Specialist
Former Director at Hydrogenics Corp
Agenda
- Cummins’ (NYSE: CMI) fuel cell production overview
- Hydrogenics (NASDAQ: HYGS) acquisition evaluation
- Competitive environment – relative strengths and weaknesses
- Fuel cell production outlook
Questions
1.
Could you start by assessing the viability of fuel cell technology? Do you think there will be room in the vehicle and EV [electric vehicle] market for fuel cells?
2.
How has the capability of fuel cells trended? They’ve been around for a while now. What have been the historical use cases, and how might their trajectory develop?
3.
I think it’s well-understood that as order volumes increase and begin to build momentum, the cost of production for vehicles will decrease, as you discussed. How should we contextualise pricing today, and the differential to making fuel cells a viable alternative to diesel-run vehicles?
4.
How did you interpret Nikola’s late-February 2021 announcement of a new product line-up, including vehicles that can travel for 900 miles before refuelling? That’s getting closer to the ranges that we would expect for class 8 trucks to be able to perform. Do you consider this to be a significant announcement?
5.
Could you break down why fuel cells make more sense for class 8 trucks vs a battery?
6.
How do you think we should be sizing or valuing the potential market for fuel cells?
7.
Can you outline Cummins’ historical experience with fuel cell technology? Was it starting from scratch with the acquisition of Hydrogenics in Q3 2019, or was it developing fuel cell technology prior?
8.
How was Hydrogenics historically positioned in the fuel cell race? What has been its approach to developing fuel cell technology?
9.
What do you think is Cummins’ path to commercialisation and profitability with hydrogen fuel cells?
10.
Could you update us on the challenges associated with rolling out refuelling infrastructure for hydrogen? Where do we stand and how do you expect these initiatives to develop?
11.
To confirm, do you think electrolysers will have to exist at each fuelling station, or is that not feasible?
12.
What are the projected methods for transporting the hydrogen itself to the refuelling stations?
13.
What are your thoughts on the feasibility of using liquid hydrogen to fuel a truck?
14.
Do you think the rate at which hydrogen refuelling stations are being created will be sufficient to scale this market over the next 10 years? Are you bullish on the trajectory, or are we behind in any way?
15.
How have you evaluated Cummins’ investments in Loop Energy? What has this brought to the table on top of the Hydrogenics acquisition?
16.
How should we frame Cummins’ ability to carve out market share against players such as Toyota or Honda, who may be perceived as better-positioned here?
17.
Do you think we are approaching a fairly significant round of consolidation in the fuel cell market, given there seem to be quite a few smaller players out there?
18.
Are there players that you think have a clear early-mover advantage in the heavy-duty class 8 truck market? Would you consider Cummins or Nikola to be among this cohort?
19.
Could you outline the core market dynamics we should be tracking, and any other key topics you would like to raise in conclusion?