Stellantis: new hydrogen Ram Trucks will be made in Mexico
Stellantis will soon begin offering hydrogen-powered versions of its biggest RAM Trucks in North America — and they’ll be coming from Mexico.
Stellantis expects to dramatically expand its hydrogen-powered vehicle lineup in coming years, growing from the 350 examples of its HFCEV delivery vans sold last year to more than 100,000 units annually by 2030. Most of those sales, it expects, will be driven by their commercial customers. In the US, that means RAM Trucks.
“This year, we are starting production of larger vehicles in Poland,” Stellantis’ hydrogen program, Jean-Michel Billig, told German-language magazine Welt. “And development in North America should follow quickly – especially with the large RAM 5500 in a fuel cell version.”
RAM Trucks 5500
If you’re not familiar with RAM’s medium duty commercial offerings, know that they’re the bigger, beefier cousins of the RAM pickup trucks you probably have seen. The 5500 series is, as the numerical designation implies, rated to both carry and tow significantly more mass — offering a stout 19,500 lb. gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) compared to the mere 6,010 lb. GVWR offered by the base RAM 1500 pickup and nearly double the 10,000 lb. rating offered by a Cummins-powered RAM 2500.
They’re serious trucks, in other words. Work trucks. And, as such, they can’t afford the kind of downtime that many fleet managers currently associate with battery electrics.
That said, the amount of time needed to charge an electric truck continues to drop as faster charging speeds couple with in-ground wireless charging and “piggyback” battery systems to keep pushing downtime lower and lower. At the same time, the retail price of hydrogen remains stubbornly high.
Stellantis, though, thinks the market will be there when (if) costs come down. “In the coming decade, we expect a significant market share for [hydrogen] technology,” Billig added. “In commercial vehicles it could be up to 40%.”
Production for the new hydrogen RAM is expected to take place at Stellantis’ Saltillo, Mexico truck assembly plant, which has been in operation since 1995.
Electrek’s Take
I talked to a fellow Electrekkie (Electrekker?) about this RAM story as I was typing it up, and their response was a perfect combination of spot-on and hilarious. “Fleets love the idea of saving money on running costs,” they said. “So tell them their fuel is going to cost 4x as much, and the up-front cost of the trucks is higher. Sure! What an easy sell!”
I can’t help but think this is the correct take, especially in light of the fact that hydrogen has recently spiked over $30 per kg, and that a kilogram of hydrogen has about as much energy in it as a gallon of gas.
Even at half that price, though, the math doesn’t add up … and that’s not me saying that. It’s Real Industry People™️. “Today you cannot buy hydrogen for less than 13 or 14 euros,” said MAN Trucks CEO, Alexander Vlaskamp. “And it is not green. And when we have green hydrogen it will be needed for the heavy industry of steel, cement, or plastic.”
NOTE: quotes attributed to Jean-Michel Billig were translated from German using Google Translate.
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Solar panel giant Qcells announced today that it’s temporarily furloughing 1,000 US workers – 25% of its workforce – and reducing pay and shifts at its factories in northeast Georgia due to supply chain delays caused by US Customs.
Qcells furloughs 1,000 workers
The supply chain delays are hindering the company’s ability to import components to build its solar panels. This has resulted in Qcells’ two factories in Cartersville and Dalton being unable to operate at full capacity for several months.
Qcells spokeswoman Marta Stoepker shared the following statement in an exclusive with Channel 2 Action News in Atlanta:
The company says the furloughed workers, who were notified this afternoon, will retain full benefits and won’t be laid off. However, Qcells will no longer be using staffing agency employees in Georgia “at this time.”
As Qcells introduced new supply chains to support its growing solar panel manufacturing facilities in Georgia, the company was recently forced to scale back production while our shipments into the US were delayed in the customs clearance process.
Although our supply chain operations are beginning to normalize, today we shared with our employees that HR actions must be taken to improve operational efficiency until production capacity returns to normal levels.
Stoepker said it expects to bring the furloughed workers back “in the coming weeks and months.” She continued:
Our commitment to building the entire solar supply chain in the United States remains. We will soon be back on track with the full force of our Georgia team delivering American-made energy to communities around the country.
Electrek’s Take
In January 2023, the Seoul-headquartered Qcells announced it would invest more than $2.5 billion to build a solar supply chain in Georgia – the largest-ever investment in clean energy manufacturing in the US to date. That included expanding the Dalton solar factory and building a fully integrated solar supply chain factory in Cartersville, Georgia, that will manufacture solar ingots, wafers, cells, and finished panels.
It’s not quite there yet, because that takes time. In the meantime, it’s being penalized by Customs. The US government under Trump says it’s keen on boosting domestic manufacturing. Why would it work against a company that’s onshoring an entire solar supply chain, including recycling?
Dalton and Cartersville employ nearly 4,000 people. Its total output will reach 8.4 GW of solar production capacity per year, which is equivalent to nearly 46,000 panels per day – enough to power approximately 1.3 million homes annually.
It’s ludicrous that it has been forced to furlough a quarter of its workforce due to the ineptness of the Trump administration’s US Customs policies. This is right up there with the ICE arrests at Hyundai’s plant in Georgia. Bravo.
Read more: Georgia gives US solar panel manufacturing a big boost with a new factory
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The breakthrough EV batteries Toyota says will double driving range and cut charging times are facing another setback. The company is once again delaying plans for a new battery plant in Japan.
Why is Toyota delaying its EV battery plant this time?
Earlier this year, Toyota bought a 280,000-square-meter plot of land in Fukuoka, Japan, where it planned to build a plant to produce the more advanced EV batteries.
A location agreement was expected to be signed by April, but Toyota pushed back construction by several months, blaming slower-than-expected demand for electric vehicles.
The agreement was expected to be finalized this Fall, but that will no longer be the case. According to Nikkei, Toyota is delaying the EV battery plant for the second time. Toyota will review and adjust plans over the next year.
Fukuoka governor, Seitaro Hattori, confirmed the news with reporters on Friday following a meeting with Toyota’s president, Koji Sato. Hattori also shut down claims that Toyota was planning to scrap the battery plant altogether.
Toyota again blamed slowing EV demand for the delay. The decision comes despite Keiji Kaita, president of Toyota’s Carbon Neutral Advanced Engineering Development Center, confirming at the Japan Mobility Show just last week that it’s “sticking on the schedule” to introduce its first solid-state battery-powered EV by 2028.
Last month, Toyota said it aimed to “achieve the world’s first practical use of all-solid-state batteries in BEVs” after securing a partnership with Sumitomo Metal Mining Co. to mass-produce them. It’s also working with Japanese oil giant Idemitsu.
The company recently revealed a solid-state battery pack prototype that it claims can deliver 747 miles (1,200 km) range and 10-minute fast charging, but will we ever see it actually in production?
Electrek’s Take
Toyota has been making empty promises about EV batteries for almost a decade now. It initially planned to introduce solid-state EV batteries in 2020, then pushed it to 2023, then 2026, and now it’s saying it will be around 2028.
Mass production is likely closer to the end of the decade, if Toyota doesn’t delay it again. While it’s blaming the slowing demand, global EV sales are still on the rise. According to Rho Motion, global EV sales topped 2 million for the first time in a single month in September 2025. Through the first nine months of the year, EV sales are up 26% compared to the same period in 2024.
Even with the US ending the $7,500 federal tax credit and other policies designed to promote electric vehicles, global adoption will continue building momentum over the next few years.
Is it a demand issue, or is Toyota just looking for another excuse? With rivals like Volkswagen, Mercedes-Benz, Hyundai, BMW, and Honda advancing next-gen EV batteries, Toyota will only fall further behind if it continues delaying key projects.
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