Hexagon Purus—a Norway-based global manufacturer of zero-emission mobility and hydrogen infrastructure solutions—is opening a new vehicle integration facility in the Dallas suburb of Mesquite that will help enable delivery on a zero-emission heavy-truck contract worth up to $2 billion.
The newly leased 200,000-plus-square-foot facility will employ up to 250 skilled workers, the company said, and will support “efficient production and distribution” of Hexagon Purus’ complete battery electric heavy-duty trucks for the U.S. market.
In March, Hexagon Purus signed a distribution agreement with Hino Motors Sales USA. Under that contract, Hexagon Purus will produce complete battery electric heavy-duty trucks for the U.S. market, distributed exclusively through select qualifying dealers in Hino’s network.
The potential total value over the course of the agreement could reach around $2 billion, Hexagon Purus said.
The new facility in Mesquite “significantly increases Hexagon Purus’ vehicle integration capacity and will enable delivery” on the Hino Motors contract, the company said.
Serial production of trucks out of the Mesquite facility is currently expected to begin during the second half of 2024. Initial battery system volumes will be produced and delivered by Hexagon Purus’ newly opened manufacturing facility in Kelowna, Canada.
Upfitting Hino truck chassis with ‘proprietary zero-emission technology’
Morten Holum
Under the contract, vehicles rolling out of the Mesquite facility will be based on Hino’s XL 4×2 truck chassis and “upfitted with Hexagon Purus’ proprietary zero-emission technology, including battery systems, auxiliary modules, power modules and the vehicle-level software,” the Norwegian company said.
The Mesquite facility will also enable delivery for a recently won contract with an undisclosed major North American manufacturer.
The facility also gives Hexagon Purus the option to add manufacturing capacity for battery modules and packs, which would qualify for Inflation Reduction Act subsidies, the company said.
Morten Holum, CEO of Hexagon Purus, said the facility “marks yet another important milestone for Hexagon Purus in building a strong position in the North American zero emission heavy-duty trucking space.”
“We continue to experience solid demand for our vehicle integration offering and the new facility will enable us to deliver on recently won customer contracts,” Holum added in a statement. “The current footprint of the facility also allows for further expansion to support continued customer growth in the U.S.”
‘Strategically located’ Dallas-area facility to serve demand for zero-emission trucks
Todd Sloan
Todd Sloan, EVP of Hexagon Purus, noted that the Dallas area “is strategically located” to serve both the ‘CARB states’ truck demand and obvious applications for low-mileage battery electric vehicles like utility trucks and urban truck deliveries.”
“The new facility is also located with proximity to key suppliers making it an ideal location for our vehicle integration operations,” he added in a statement.
The CARB states, which have adopted emission standards set by the California Air Resources Board, include California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Virginia, Vermont, and Washington, along with Washington, D.C.
But Eli Turander, global communications director for Hexagon Purus, told Dallas Innovates the trucks “will be delivered to whoever orders them, which includes Texas. It’s probably reasonable to expect higher volumes in states with incentives.”
Turander, who’s based in Oslo, Norway, said the trucks to be integrated at the Mesquite facility will be utility trucks and 4×2 tractors.
Follows April opening of an engineering and manufacturing facility in Canada
Hexagon Purus’ engineering and manufacturing facility in Kelowna, Canada, opened in April. [Photo: Hexagon Purus]
News of the Mesquite facility lease comes on the heels of Hexagon Purus’ April opening of a new engineering and manufacturing facility for battery and hydrogen storage systems in Kelowna, Canada. That was the company’s second North American manufacturing ribbon-cutting this year—in January, Hexagon Purus opened a new hydrogen cylinder production facility in Westminster, Maryland.
Eli Turander
“Kelowna is our engineering and battery systems manufacturing hub, and also where the leadership of the battery systems and vehicle integration business unit is located,” Turander said. “The Dallas facility will in the first phase be solely focused on vehicle integration.”
“Initial volumes of battery modules and packs to deliver on the current customer contracts will come out of the Kelowna facility,” she added, saying her company has experienced “strong commercial momentum in the U.S.”
“We expect this to continue as we see a solid demand for our products from OEMs as they continue to switch towards more zero-emission alternatives to comply with regulatory requirements from 2024 onwards,” Turander said. “Having the ability/flexibility to add a battery line at the Dallas facility will allow us to continue to grow alongside the customer demand that we expect will come in the U.S.”
Hexagon Purus is a leading provider of hydrogen Type 4 high-pressure cylinders and systems, battery systems, and vehicle integration solutions for fuel cell electric and battery electric vehicles. The company says its products are used in a variety of applications including light, medium, and heavy-duty vehicles, buses, ground storage, distribution, refueling, maritime, rail, and aerospace.
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