The French company NamX presented, this week in the Italian municipality Cambiano, the prototype of a car running on hydrogen. Co-designed by Pininfarina, NamX presents itself as a hydrogen SUV powered by removable capsules. The prototype was presented on Wednesday at a press conference at the headquarters of the Italian design house Pininfarina, historical designer of several brands such as Ferrari and Peugeot.
Once produced, this SUV will be “the world’s first car powered by a patented removable fuel tank system that promises to revolutionize the clean mobility experience and make hydrogen fuel widely available,” NamX said in a statement. He recalls that the vehicle “is part of a large-scale industrial and technological project whose ambition is to reconcile human mobility and preservation of the environment thanks to green hydrogen”.
“The son of a Moroccan worker who creates his car brand”
Behind this brand with green ambitions, a Franco-Moroccan and a whole story of the son of a worker who worked at the Renault factory in Flins for more than 35 years. “So it’s the story of the son of a Moroccan worker who creates a new car brand,” Faouzi Annajah, the Franco-Moroccan entrepreneur who founded NamX, told us on Friday. “Being Franco-Moroccan born of Moroccan parents, it is a matter of pride for us and an ambition for the continent, which allows us to bring our stone to the building”, he adds.
Entrepreneur for 7 years and with various start-ups in Paris, the Franco-Moroccan has already worked for the German car manufacturer Volkswagen and was “trained in the automobile”. “It’s been a passion since I was young, but I’ve also made it my job,” explains Faouzi Annajah.
“NamX is a product born five years ago which consists of the creation of a new totally green premium car brand. We made the world premiere at Pininfarina, which is our design partner. The presentation of this prototype also enabled us to present our vision,” he told us. The French company claims to have “the largest industrial and technical partners in the world around the project for delivery at the end of 2025”. “We aim to create production factories. This project is between Europe and Africa and in particular between Europe and Morocco,” explains Faouzi Annajah.
“It’s incredible. Five years ago, it all started with just a dream of creating a premium car brand between Europe and Africa. Creating a new industry in Morocco was also a dream. I think that today it is necessary to develop a quality technological industry, offering jobs en masse for future generations.”
Faouzi Annajah
A fuel cell SUV using green hydrogen
The Franco-Moroccan entrepreneur explains that it is a “car that has an electric motor”. “But instead of batteries, it has a fuel cell that produces its own electricity,” he adds. For him, the most important point remains autonomy, given that NamX takes advantage of “the advantage of hydrogen over electric by offering an autonomy of” 800 kilometers for a recharge time of only 3 minutes. “.
“Today, other brands are moving towards electric and hybrid, but hydrogen is the future generation of clean energy,” he says, pointing to the competition. “When we create cars with batteries, we don’t know if the energy is clean or not. Our ambition is to use green hydrogen, which is produced using solar or wind energy. It is therefore clean energy throughout the chain, ”assures the young 29-year-old entrepreneur who grew up in Éragny (Val-d’Oise). He also emphasizes that it is the work of a “complementary team that knew how to create this project”.
“I am surrounded by the greatest partners, such as Pierre-Yves Geels, former managing director of AVL France, who manages all the technical part and Alain Didoine, the former director of R&D at Renault, who manages the technology part linked to hydrogen. There is also the Franco-Moroccan Mustapha Mokass who takes care of the energy part.
Faouzi Annajah
NamX is aware of the geopolitical context, the “unanimously recognized” strategic importance of hydrogen and the complete renewal of the car fleet with nearly 1.5 billion passenger vehicles to be replaced by 2045 in Europe. Top-of-the-range family SUV whose price will vary between 65,000 and 95,000 euros depending on the options chosen from Q4 2025, it will be marketed in two versions: an entry-level rear-wheel drive 300 hp for a regulated top speed speed of 200 km/h and acceleration from 0 to 100 km/h in 6.5 seconds as well as a 550 hp four-wheel drive GTH version for a regulated top speed of 250 km/h and acceleration from 0 to 100 km/h in 4.5 seconds.
“We even aim to produce this vehicle in Morocco. But it is being studied”, assures Faouzi Annajah, who promises “upcoming announcements related to Morocco” and details on the technical aspects of the innovation of this vehicle at the next Paris Motor Show ( October 17 to 23, 2022).