H2 Mobility to close underused stations in Germany, focuses on commercial vehicles

Germany’s hydrogen refuelling network is shifting to meet demand. H2 Mobility, the country’s largest hydrogen refuelling operator, is closing 22 stations in 2025 while expanding infrastructure for commercial transport.

This switch aligns with the growing focus on hydrogen for trucks and buses, where demand is rising the fastest.

Adapting to demand

H2 Mobility confirmed that 11 small 700-bar stations will close by the end of March 2025, with another 11 shutting down by June – all as part of a planned network consolidation that began in 2022.

Spread across cities including Bonn, Flensburg, and Heidelberg, the sites were among the first hydrogen stations built in Germany, designed exclusively for passenger cars.

The problem being, they weren’t built to accommodate the vehicles that now, arguably, need hydrogen the most: heavy duty commercial vehicles.

“The hydrogen mobility market in Germany has changed significantly,” said Martin Jüngel, Managing Director & CFO of H2 Mobility.

“For some years now, our strategic focus has been on a regional, demand-based expansion of the hydrogen infrastructure for light and heavy commercial vehicles.”

That doesn’t mean hydrogen refuelling needs to be separate for commercial and passenger vehicles.

Many modern hydrogen stations already support both 700-bar and 350-bar refuelling – some even using the same pump, much like how we refuel with petrol and diesel from the same pump unit.

But the stations now being phased out weren’t designed with that flexibility. They were built solely around 700-bar refuelling for cars, at a time when the market was still in its infancy.

Why these stations?

There are wheels within wheels in hydrogen infrastructure – building a refuelling station for a truck isn’t just a case of scaling up a car pump.

HGVs require taller canopies, larger forecourts for turning 44 tonnes around, and the capacity to handle far greater hydrogen volumes at 350-bar and 500-bar pressures.

The stations being shut down were never designed for this – they weren’t made to serve the vehicles that are now driving real hydrogen demand.

That’s not to say hydrogen passenger cars are the issue. If anything, the first wave of refuelling stations underestimated the fact that commercial vehicles would be the first major adopters.

A more adaptable design from the outset – one that catered to both segments – might have prevented the need for these closures in the first place.

Meanwhile, two new high-capacity refuelling sites will open in Düsseldorf and Ludwigshafen in the coming months, adding to recently built stations in Heidelberg, Mannheim, and Frankenthal.

These sites are designed for higher throughput and more efficient hydrogen delivery, reflecting where demand is growing fastest.

Infrastructure in motion

By the end of the year, H2 Mobility expects most of its hydrogen sales to come from 350-bar refuelling for commercial vehicles.

The network is shifting to support that, prioritising high-demand freight corridors and urban centres.

For commercial fleets, this approach makes sense – hydrogen trucks and buses typically operate on fixed routes, returning to the same refuelling locations regularly.

But passenger transport is a different equation. Private cars, by nature, travel in unpredictable patterns – one day in the city, the next on a cross-country trip.

A viable hydrogen car network needs refuelling options across a broad area, not just along freight corridors.

H2 Mobility says it is in discussions to maintain a passenger car network, but for now, investment is being led by commercial demand.

That’s not a dead end for hydrogen cars – it’s simply the infrastructure puzzle playing out in real-time.

Many modern stations already cater to both 700-bar and 350-bar refueling, and as hydrogen adoption grows, future infrastructure can be designed to serve both markets from the outset.

The more vehicles on the road, the greater the case for widespread refuelling locations – and as heavy transport builds that backbone, the opportunity for passenger hydrogen cars only increases.