Two years ago, the interest of German truck manufacturers and freight forwarders in fuel cells was extremely low. It’s different today. Almost all logistics companies are now in some way concerned with the question of what fuel their vehicles will be powered by in the future.
The good news is that fuel cells for materials handling equipment are no longer confined to a niche market. Entire warehouses in North America are currently being served by hydrogen-powered forklift trucks. This type of fuel cell application is also becoming increasingly popular in Asia and Europe, but their logistics industries will have some catching up to do.
The deal with Amazon – which basically acquired a stake in Plug Power (Nasdaq: PLUG) through warrants and, at the same time, placed orders to have its forklift trucks retrofitted – may be the reason why Walmart has agreed to a change in the terms for its large Plug booking, which will improve the situation for the latter. Walmart was the first big Plug customer to request forklift conversions and an H2 refueling infrastructure at its logistics centers.