SAINT-DENIS, France -- Loic Voisin, president of French hydrogen mobility company HysetCo, said that hydrogen is "an excellent energy source from a geopolitical perspective," in a recent interview with The Yomiuri Shimbun.

The company operates a taxi service in Paris and the city's suburbs with a fleet of approximately 800 fuel cell vehicles (FCVs), which include Toyota's Mirai and vans from French automaker Peugeot. It plans to expand its fleet to several thousand vehicles within three years, for example, through its partnership with ride-hailing app Uber.

The following is excerpted from the interview, which was conducted in French through an interpreter.

Producing hydrogen at in-house stations

The Yomiuri Shimbun: What does HysetCo do?

Loic Voisin: Broadly speaking, we operate in two main areas. One is the management and operation of hydrogen stations. We currently operate eight stations in Ile-de-France, which includes Paris. At one of these stations, we also produce gaseous hydrogen (for fuel). This accounts for about 20% of our total hydrogen supply. Then there is our vehicle business. We not only provide FCVs (to taxi drivers and others) but also offer a full range of services, including auto insurance, maintenance and repairs.

Yomiuri: Why did you launch your hydrogen taxi business?

Voisin: If we aim to decarbonize transportation and improve air quality, hydrogen is extremely effective. Currently, there are two solutions: electric vehicles (EVs) and FCVs. As for hydrogen, since it can be produced and consumed locally, we don't need to rely on imported energy, which allows us to safeguard our sovereignty. I believe it is an excellent energy source from a geopolitical perspective.

Hydrogen offers many advantages. It produces zero emissions and has no odor. It also generates little noise or vibration. Most importantly, refueling does not take a long time -- just 3 to 5 minutes. Once refueled, a vehicle can travel up to 600 kilometers.

Partnership with Uber enables accelerated growth

Yomiuri: How many vehicles do you plan to add?

Voisin: There's no upper limit. We currently have 800 vehicles, but signing the contract with Uber has enabled us to accelerate our growth. We expect to expand our fleet to several thousand vehicles over the next three years. As the numbers of vehicles and users increase, we'll build new refueling stations. Our motto is to move forward (with each project) by carefully balancing the infrastructure and the number of vehicles.

Yomiuri: What are the challenges in realizing a hydrogen mobility society?

Voisin: There are several. More automakers need to enter the development of vehicles powered by hydrogen. We need to secure large quantities of green hydrogen (produced using renewable energy). We also need to roll out similar projects in other countries to reduce the costs of hydrogen, vehicles and infrastructure (such as hydrogen stations). And, crucially in Europe, we need to establish solid regulations and develop a tax system suited to new technologies.

Yomiuri: How do you plan to reduce the cost of hydrogen?

Voisin: We've cut costs in half over the past five years. This means that cost reductions driven by economies of scale are on track. As the number of vehicles increases and hydrogen consumption rises, we can lower costs even further. This is still a new field, and we're just getting started. Wind and solar power were also once said to be "too expensive to ever succeed." We're still in the process of scaling up the number of vehicles.

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This article is from The Yomiuri Shimbun. Neither Dow Jones Newswires, MarketWatch, Barron's nor The Wall Street Journal were involved in the creation of this content.

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July 16, 2026 07:21 ET (11:21 GMT)

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