Big news for Morocco’s automotive industry: Morocco’s NamX has unveiled a hydrogen-powered vehicle prototype designed in collaboration with Italian design office Pininfarina, Maghreb Arab Press reports. The prototype — dubbed Hydrogen Utility Vehicle (HUV) — will be powered with hydrogen through a central tank complemented by six removable capsules, facilitating a quicker hydrogen recharge.

REMEMBER- Morocco has transformed itself into a regional automotive powerhouse through smart incentives and consistent government policy, and it is now a key exporter to Europe as well as to other MENA countries, including Egypt. It currently has a thriving EV assembly industry, with plans for expansion. Several global manufacturers produce hundreds of thousands of EVs at assembly facilities in the country. Morocco is targeting the production of around 1 mn EVs in the next three to four years, according to statements by officials last year.

Following BMW’s and Toyota’s lead? German automaker BMW rolled out the hydrogen-powered iX5 Hydrogen in March, noting that the current pilot phase is meant to demonstrate the potential of hydrogen vehicles as an emissions-free means of transport for select motorists. BMW is sourcing the fuel cells for its car from Toyota, which debuted two models of its Mirai sedan boasting hydrogen fuel cell technology similar to BMW’s iX5 last January.

And hydrogen fuel cell production is coming to the region: US-based hydrogen fuel cell (HFC) solutions company Renewable Innovations (RI) signed a joint venture agreement with Utah-headquartered Mena Holdings to establish a HFC products assembly plant in Saudi Arabia last month. The facility will build HFC products for distribution in the Middle East and North Africa and will enable Mena Holdings to offtake an undisclosed amount of RI products produced at the plant.