Hyliion finds partner to build natural gas fueling stations

Hyliion Holdings Corp. (NYSE: HYLN) is partnering with natural gas fuel and station developer American Natural Gas (ANG) to build additional infrastructure and sell discounted renewable natural gas to Hyliion customers.

ANG also signed a preorder for up to 250 Hyliion natural gas-powered HyperTruck ERX electric systems. It will build new natural gas stations for qualifying Hyliion customers near their locations with no customer-paid up-front costs.

Hyliion received $560 million in a reverse merger Sept. 28 with special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) Tortoise Acquisition Corp. It is using the money to fund its Hypertruck ERX, which features a natural gas generator that makes electricity on board. When running on RNG, the ERX boasts net-negative carbon emissions.

Hyliion also sells a Dana Inc. (NYSE: DAN) electronic axle to boost the performance and reduce emissions of diesel trucks. Dana also makes the integrated electric driveline for the ERX.

“With the Hypertruck ERX, fleets can leverage RNG — the least carbon-intensive alternative fuel — to reduce their carbon footprint, achieve corporate sustainability goals and realize critical cost savings,” ANG founder and CEO Drew West said in a press release.

No-cost infrastructure growth

Hyliion CEO Thomas Healy told FreightWaves in an interview on Oct. 2 that his company’s business plan did not include adding to the nation’s 700 natural gas fueling stations. ANG operates 58 stations in 17 states and has more than 200 fleet customers.

Locking in a no-cost infrastructure expansion for compressed and renewable natural gas is an advantage for Hyliion. Battery-electric and hydrogen fuel cell electric truck makers need to build out charging and hydrogen filling stations.

“A robust and highly scalable infrastructure is critical to the adoption of our electrified solutions,”  Healy said in the press release. “That’s why we’re working with ANG to reduce costs and enable us to offer our customers refueling stations where they are needed.”

Under the partnership agreement, ANG will provide Hyliion’s qualifying Hypertruck ERX customers that run each of their trucks at least 100,000 miles a year with a fueling station upon request. Each ANG station has the compression to shorten refuel times for Class 8 trucks on par with diesel refueling.

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