With internal "worries" and external "threats", there isn't much time left for domestic hydrogen fuel cell players.
During the development of new energy vehicles, pure electric and fuel cell technologies have always been the two major mainstream technological routes.
In contrast to the booming sales of electric vehicles, hydrogen-powered vehicles are struggling. In particular, hydrogen fuel cell enterprises in the middle of the industrial chain are facing a "life-or-death" crisis.
Star startups have gone bankrupt due to their inability to raise funds. Listed companies not only fail to make a profit but also see their losses continue to widen.
Some time ago, Fu Yu, the chairman of Jichong Hydrogen Energy, said in an exclusive interview with the media that hydrogen energy belongs to new productive forces. Enterprises in this field do not develop linearly like traditional industries. Instead, they face a huge "Valley of Death" in the early stage, and the probability of breaking through it is about 3%.
Under the challenges of a cold financing environment, weak market demand, and the blow from foreign giants, how can domestic hydrogen fuel cell players "turn the tables"?
"Hot money" disappears, and companies cut jobs to survive
The hydrogen fuel cell industry is a typical long-term investment industry. To maintain technological competitiveness, enterprises need to continuously invest a large amount of capital in R & D. However, in the short term, these R & D achievements cannot be fully transformed into economic benefits.
It may take 3 - 5 years from product R & D to reliability testing and then to large-scale commercialization, and there are also uncertain risks along the way. For this reason, many hydrogen fuel cell enterprises highly rely on external financing and government subsidies in the early stage.
In previous years, thanks to policy dividends and the inflow of hot money in the primary market, it was relatively easy for these startups to raise funds. However, now, against the backdrop of increasing macro - economic uncertainties, the financing environment has become even more severe.
Current investors prefer to "invest this year and get returns next year" and tend to invest in projects that can generate quick returns with relatively low risks. They are hesitant and cautious about the hydrogen fuel cell industry, which started late and has a long cycle.
According to a report by the China Hydrogen Energy Alliance, from 2020 to 2022, the hydrogen energy financing market showed a growing trend, and the disclosed total financing soared from 1.75 billion yuan to 10.31 billion yuan. However, after 2023, the total financing dropped significantly to 6.15 billion yuan and further to 5.78 billion yuan in 2024, shrinking by more than 40% compared with the peak.
Since 2025, the primary market has not improved. According to statistics from TrendBank, in the first half of 2025, a total of 22 hydrogen energy enterprises completed investment and financing, a year - on - year decrease of about 23.3% compared with the first half of 2024.
In terms of financing rounds, angel rounds and Series A still dominate. This indicates that due to the rapid technological iteration in the industry, investors prefer to discover and incubate "potential stocks". Enterprises that received early - stage investment but made slow progress in technology transformation, cost control, or large - scale application seem to have been abandoned.
Take Jichong Hydrogen Energy as an example. In early 2022, the company announced the completion of a Series A financing of hundreds of millions of yuan. The leading investor was the Xinxiang Hydrogen Energy Phase II Fund under Zhongjin Huirong, and the follow - on investors included Yunze Capital and Shandong Jiangyi Venture Capital.
Zhang Xiangguang, the then investment director of the investment and financing management department of Zhongjin Huirong, said that after the completion of this round of investment, Jichong Hydrogen Energy would invest 150 million yuan in the High - tech Zone of Xinxiang City to establish a project company. It was expected that after completion, the annual output value would reach 2 billion yuan, the operating income would reach 500 million yuan in three years, and the comprehensive tax would be 50 million yuan, making it an internationally competitive fuel cell production enterprise.
However, three years have passed, and the "promises" Jichong Hydrogen Energy made to investors are far from being fulfilled. In May this year, its wholly - owned subsidiary, Xinxiang Jichong Hydrogen Energy Technology Co., Ltd., was sued by a supplier due to a decoration contract dispute. After completing the Series A financing, the company's subsequent financing has also come to a standstill.
On the one hand, the "hot money" in the capital market has disappeared. On the other hand, enterprises have been deeply trapped in the "quagmire of losses" for a long time.
A few months ago, "the first hydrogen energy stock", Yihuatong, released its worst report card since listing. In 2024, its revenue was 367 million yuan, a year - on - year decline of 54.21%, and its net loss widened to 456 million yuan, nearly twice that of the previous year.
Yihuatong is the first fuel cell enterprise listed on the A - share market and has achieved mass production of fuel cell systems. However, affected by industry development and the macro - economy, the company still faces great pressure. In February this year, there were reports that Yihuatong was looking for a way out through a transaction and restructuring with China Xuyang Group.
The situation of several other listed hydrogen energy companies is also not optimistic. Guohong Hydrogen Energy's revenue last year decreased by 36.85% year - on - year, with a net loss of 407 million yuan; Reshape Energy's revenue decreased by 27.53% year - on - year, with a net loss of 737 million yuan; Guofu Hydrogen Energy's revenue decreased by about 12.55% year - on - year, with a net loss of 210 million yuan.
The total loss of the above four enterprises in 2024 exceeded 1.8 billion yuan. This also shows that even leading enterprises in the industrial chain still cannot achieve "positive profits" and will still need "external support" in the future.
If leading enterprises are in such a situation, startups will undoubtedly have a harder time. With no hope of making a profit in the short term and difficulties in raising funds, many hydrogen fuel cell enterprises are currently facing varying degrees of capital turnover problems.
With difficulties in raising funds and no hope of making a profit, enterprises have started to "save money" to survive, and laying off employees is the most effective way to save money.
The annual report shows that the number of employees at Yihuatong, a leading hydrogen fuel cell enterprise, decreased by 336 last year, a lay - off ratio of up to 32%; the number of employees at Guohong Hydrogen Energy decreased by 287 last year, a lay - off ratio of up to 36%. Startups are also struggling. It is rumored in the industry that Jichong Hydrogen Energy has eliminated its brand department, and Jiang Zhiqiang, the former director of the department, has left.
Too many "monks" and too little "porridge", and customers are "poached"
Hydrogen fuel cell enterprises not only face the problem of "being unable to raise funds" but also the greater problem of "being unable to sell their products".
According to the fuel cell vehicle data (from the perspective of compulsory traffic insurance) of the GGII, in 2024, the number of registered hydrogen fuel cell vehicles in China was 7,075, a year - on - year decrease of 5.4%, falling short of industry expectations.
Although the sales volume of hydrogen vehicles is less than 10,000, there are more than a hundred manufacturers providing fuel cell systems. According to GGII statistics, 96 fuel cell system manufacturers (including subsidiaries) provided supporting products. After consolidation under the parent companies, the number of supporting fuel cell system manufacturers was still 62, an increase of 8 compared with 2023.
Judging from the number of hydrogen vehicles supported by fuel cell system manufacturers, the concentration of the domestic fuel cell market is still relatively high. The top 10 system manufacturers supported 5,181 vehicles, accounting for a total market share of 73.2%.
Specifically, only 2 manufacturers supported more than 1,000 hydrogen vehicles, 16 manufacturers supported between 100 and 1,000 vehicles, and the supporting number of most manufacturers was less than 100 (some even in single - digits). This means that only a few leading enterprises can get a share of the market, while most enterprises can hardly get anything.
The "2024 Hydrogen Energy 'Specialized, Sophisticated, Distinctive, and Innovative' Investment and Financing Report" released by the China Hydrogen Energy Alliance also confirms this. In terms of the revenue scale of hydrogen energy enterprises, only about 10% of enterprises had revenues exceeding 100 million yuan, about 20% of enterprises had revenues ranging from 10 million to 100 million yuan, and nearly 70% of enterprises had revenues of less than 10 million yuan last year.
"Being unable to sell products" is the biggest challenge currently faced by the hydrogen fuel cell industry.
Currently, domestic hydrogen fuel cell vehicles are mainly commercial vehicles such as heavy - duty trucks. In the 388th batch of the "Announcement of Road Motor Vehicle Manufacturers and Products" by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the number of hydrogen - fueled trucks declared was 17, the number of special vehicles declared was 6, and the total number of hydrogen - fueled logistics vehicles and buses declared was only 3.
The large - scale application of hydrogen - powered heavy - duty trucks mainly faces three major problems: product performance, cost, and hydrogen refueling.
For heavy - duty trucks engaged in freight transportation, the most core parameter is the cruising range. Currently, the single - refueling cruising range of mainstream domestic hydrogen - powered heavy - duty trucks is between 500 and 700 kilometers, which can meet the needs of regional or short - distance transportation within or between neighboring cities, but is still insufficient for long - distance trunk transportation of more than 1,500 kilometers.
The cost mainly consists of two parts: the initial vehicle purchase cost + hydrogen refueling cost. Currently, the prices of hydrogen - powered heavy - duty trucks on the market are mainly concentrated in the range of 900,000 to 1.35 million yuan, while the prices of diesel heavy - duty trucks are generally below 500,000 yuan.
In the actual transportation process, the hydrogen consumption of the mainstream 49 - ton hydrogen - powered heavy - duty trucks on the market is about 10 kilograms per 100 kilometers. The hydrogen prices vary greatly in different regions. Taking the hydrogen price at the nozzle of 25 yuan per kilogram, the cost per 100 kilometers is about 250 yuan. The fuel consumption of a 49 - ton diesel heavy - duty truck per 100 kilometers is about 33 liters. Calculated at 6.9 yuan per liter, the cost per 100 kilometers is about 230 yuan.
According to calculations by the China Automobile Strategy and Policy Research Center, taking a 49 - ton heavy - duty truck as an example, the unit transportation cost of fuel cell vehicles is about 1.2 times that of similar fuel - powered vehicles. In terms of hard costs, hydrogen - powered heavy - duty trucks do not have an advantage. However, with the support of vehicle purchase subsidies and the policy of exempting highway tolls, the operating costs of hydrogen - powered heavy - duty trucks have been significantly reduced.
Last year, Shandong Province issued a policy stating that starting from March 1, 2024, hydrogen - powered vehicles equipped with ETC devices traveling on Shandong's highways would be temporarily exempted from highway tolls. Following Shandong, provinces such as Sichuan, Jilin, and Shaanxi have also followed suit. According to calculations by Xiangcheng Club, the TCO (total cost of ownership) of a 49 - ton hydrogen - powered heavy - duty truck that enjoys purchase subsidies and is exempt from highway tolls is 4.088 million yuan, saving about 1.29 million yuan compared with fuel - powered heavy - duty trucks.
However, this is only an ideal situation. There are still many problems in the actual implementation, including the delay of subsidies and the inconsistent policies on highway toll exemptions in different provinces (for example, when transporting goods from Henan to Jiangsu, Henan exempts highway tolls, while Jiangsu does not).
In addition to cost, another major obstacle to the large - scale implementation of hydrogen - powered heavy - duty trucks is the problem of "difficulty in hydrogen refueling". Compared with the numerous gas stations across the country, the number of hydrogen refueling stations is very small. Take Shandong Province, which strongly supports the hydrogen energy industry, as an example. By the end of 2024, the number of hydrogen refueling stations built in the province was only 44.
It is reported that currently, the investment cost of a hydrogen refueling station is relatively high, with an average cost of about 15 million yuan to build one, and it takes 5 - 10 years to recover the cost, which has become a key factor affecting the popularization of hydrogen refueling stations.
Restricted by multiple obstacles such as "limited cruising range, high operating costs, and difficulty in hydrogen refueling", it is difficult for hydrogen - powered heavy - duty trucks to be widely popularized in the short term, and naturally, it is also difficult for hydrogen fuel cell enterprises to get orders.
On the one hand, the growth of the hydrogen vehicle market is insufficient. On the other hand, there are many hydrogen fuel cell players, which has intensified the "involution" in the industry. Once an enterprise fails to keep up with its competitors in terms of technology or cost advantages, its existing customers are likely to be "poached" by rivals.
As mentioned above, Jichong Hydrogen Energy won the bid for the 110KW system pre - investment project stack of Dongfang Electric (Chengdu) Hydrogen Fuel Cell Technology Co., Ltd. (referred to as "Dongfang Electric") in September 2021.
However, in August 2025, the winning bid announcement for the machining parts of the 80C - L and V40G stacks released by Dongfang Electric showed that the winning bidder had changed to Chengdu Hongsheng Electronic Technology Co., Ltd. It is reported that Dongfang Electric was once Jichong Hydrogen Energy's largest customer, and the loss of this major customer has undoubtedly dealt a heavy blow to Jichong Hydrogen Energy.
The "wolves" are really coming
When domestic fuel cell enterprises are facing great survival pressure, foreign enterprises are also gearing up to seize market shares in the domestic fuel cell market.
According to the "Fuel Cell Vehicle Database" (from the perspective of compulsory traffic insurance) of the GGII, in the first quarter of 2025, the number of registered fuel cell vehicles in China reached 1,125. These 1,125 fuel cell vehicles were supported by 20 fuel cell system manufacturers (the sales of subsidiaries were consolidated under the parent companies).
Among them, the proportion of vehicles supported by foreign/joint - venture brands increased significantly. The foreign/joint - venture brands involved in supporting vehicles included Hyundai Hydrogen Energy, Cummins, Huafeng Fuel Cell, and Bosch Hydrogen Power, with a total proportion of 19.2%. In the same period last year, the proportion of vehicles supported by foreign/joint - venture brands was only 12.2%, a 7 - percentage - point increase.
In particular, Hyundai Hydrogen Energy, a subsidiary of the South Korean Hyundai Group, performed outstandingly. In the first quarter of this year, it supported a total of 185 hydrogen vehicles and ranked second in the overall ranking. Last year in the same period, its supporting number only ranked tenth.
Since 1998, the Hyundai Group has been deploying in the hydrogen energy field and is one of the main promoters of global hydrogen fuel cell technology. Hyundai Hydrogen Energy is the first overseas production and sales base for hydrogen fuel cell systems of the Hyundai Group, which was officially put into operation in 2023.
In July this year, the Hyundai Group showcased its latest hydrogen fuel cell vehicle, the NEXO, at the International Hydrogen Energy and Fuel Cell Vehicle Conference. It is equipped with fourth - generation fuel cell technology, enabling a 700 - kilometer cruising range after a 5 - minute hydrogen refueling.
Japan is the most determined country in the world to develop hydrogen energy and fuel cell vehicles. Since 2017, it has been envisioning a "hydrogen society" and