H2X Warrego hydrogen fuel cell Ford Ranger breaks cover, Aussie production soon

The first prototype of the hydrogen fuel cell Ford Ranger ute dubbed the Warrego by its developer, the Australian start-up H2X Global, has hit the road in the Netherlands.

And to prove it, H2X has issued two videos, one showing the previous-generation Ranger dual-cab ute in action and the other adding a look under the skin at its new powertrain.

The H2X Warrego pops up just weeks after Queensland start-up Roev announced plans to launch production of battery electric Toyotas Hilux and Ford Ranger utes targeted at fleets in Australia from 2023.

Originally, the Warrego was meant to be demonstrated on the Gold Coast last November before going on sale priced from $190,000 in April 2022.

H2X says the Warrego will be available to customers over the coming months in line with availability of hydrogen. 

H2X has also announced it will build the H2X in Europe and in Australia at a facility in Sale in Victoria’s LaTrobe Valley. Australia has minimal hydrogen refuelling infrastructure so the potential buyer market will be small.

The company, which launched in Australia in June 2020 with plans to reboot the local car industry has had a series of setbacks and changes along the way.

H2X says supply chain issues have put it about nine months behind schedule in its rollout of the Warrego.

“It is true that we have had some frustrating delays over the past nine months, however, we are now well on track with our roll out plans,” H2X Global CEO and founder Brendan Norman said in a company press release.

“Our production and engineering teams have done an amazing job to overcome these problems and we are now back on schedule.”

H2X says the Warrego is now undergoing final validation and verification testing procedures in the Netherlands as it heads towards gaining European and global certification.

Australian certification testing will commence soon, the statement said.

“The focus for the first Warrego had been for a European release for a number of reasons but mainly due to the availability of hydrogen at customer level in several cities where order status has been high and government support is present to develop the hydrogen economy,” explained Norman.

The Warrego features a full version of the H2X powertrain developed for light vehicles featuring a supercapacitor-based hybrid system operating in AWD mode.

Elements of the systems include the supercapacitor pack with a 90,000 amp output and 8kWh storage capacity, a 250kW electric motor, a 60kW fuel cell, a polymer carbon-fibre hydrogen fuel tank that can operate at up to 700 bar and the standard Ranger transfer case. H2X claims a 450km range for the Warrego.

The Warrego demonstrates the platform that is intended as a basis for the upcoming H2X Darling Delivery Van around 2025. This will be the first fully developed and optimised vehicle from H2X.

“The Warrego is essentially a demonstration vehicle which we are able to offer to several customers in order to accelerate the availability of an AWD light commercial vehicles to customers, using a state-of-the-art Hybrid Hydrogen Fuel Cell System,”  said Norman.

“This application will be applied in a more optimised form in the Darling Delivery Van and Taxi/MPV targeted for release to support the large number of cities in Europe which will be closed off from diesel and petrol vehicles from 2025.”