The top manufacturer of fuel cell stacks, HyPoint, has been fully acquired by ZeroAvia.
As a result of the acquisition, ZeroAvia now has access to HyPoint’s cutting-edge high-temperature fuel cell technology, which offers the potential to boost the power output and energy density of aviation fuel cell powertrains. ZeroAvia already has unmatched expertise in creating the complete powertrain necessary for hydrogen-electric flight.
All 40 HyPoint team members will join ZeroAvia and work at both HyPoint’s Sandwich, Kent, and Kemble, Gloucestershire, R&D facilities. In order to advance ZeroAvia’s rotorcraft business applications and investigate alternative possibilities outside of the company’s primary focus on fixed-wing commercial aviation, HyPoint’s CEO Alex Ivanenko joins ZeroAvia as GM for VTOL and New Segments.
The whole engineering staff of HyPoint will merge with ZeroAvia’s Hydrogen Power Generation Systems (PGS) division, which is run by Rudolf Coertze, CTO Hydrogen. This will bring together two extraordinarily gifted teams of fuel cell researchers and engineers that are currently working in the sector.
Over the past few years, the two businesses have collaborated closely to co-develop and test HTPEM fuel cell technology as part of ZeroAvia’s powertrain development. HyPoint will move the majority of its R&D to the UK in February 2022 to support the relationship. HyPoint has established itself as a trailblazer, creating technology that has the potential to speed up the adoption of fuel cell power in larger aircraft. This initial collaboration was a component of ZeroAvia’s work on the HyFlyer II program, which was funded by the UK’s ATI Programme.
Following the announcement of a significant agreement with ZeroAvia’s long-term fuel cell partner PowerCell, which will see the serial supply of hydrogen fuel stacks start in 2024, this new development has just occurred. Together, these actions will put ZeroAvia in a strong leadership position to advance both LTPEM and HTPEM technologies for pertinent aviation applications.
