Bosch and hydrogen: not an exit from vehicles, but easing off

Is Bosch pulling out of hydrogen for vehicles? That impression comes from a string of reports about job losses and postponed investments. The reality is more nuanced. Bosch is scaling back its hydrogen ambitions for vehicles because the market is ramping up more slowly than expected, but it is not stopping the technology. It is spreading its bets: less emphasis on the fuel cell, more on hydrogen production via electrolysis, and meanwhile a very much alive hydrogen combustion engine.

The signals that look like a withdrawal

In a short span the reports piled up. In March 2025 Bosch paused a planned 200-million-dollar investment in fuel cell production in the United States. In September 2025 the group announced it would cut 13,000 jobs worldwide through 2030, mainly in the Power Solutions and Electrified Motion divisions — exactly where the hydrogen technology sits. In early 2026 a reduction of around 200 jobs followed in the fuel cell unit in China. Substantial moves, one after another.

Why the brakes are going on

The common thread in Bosch's own explanation is the market, not the technology. The company points to demand being too low and to a considerable delay in the ramp-up of the hydrogen market in Europe, partly due to the lack of a clear regulatory framework. A painful illustration came from a major customer: the American hydrogen truck maker Nikola, which used Bosch fuel cells, filed for bankruptcy in February 2025. Without enough vehicles on the road and without a dense refuelling network, demand for components stays behind.

The figures, honestly

There are no clean, standalone revenue and market-share figures for Bosch's hydrogen vehicle unit: Bosch does not break these out in its annual figures, and the share of hydrogen vehicles in the total car market is very small anyway. What is known does give direction. Bosch aimed for around 5 billion euros in revenue from hydrogen technology by 2030. The 2025 restructuring is meant to close a cost gap of 2.5 billion euros. Together these two figures sketch the picture: large promised potential in the long term, but too little demand in the short term to carry the costs already incurred.

Electrolysis is a shift of emphasis, not a replacement

Many headlines reported that Bosch is giving up on the fuel cell and switching to electrolysis. That is only partly true. That decision concerned stationary solid-oxide fuel cells (SOFC) for power generation, not the fuel cell in vehicles. For that stationary business Bosch is indeed stopping and focusing on electrolysis stacks, which produce hydrogen. For vehicles it is different: there, it is scaling back, not stopping.

So why electrolysis?

If demand for fuel cells is disappointing, why does Bosch turn to electrolysis? Because the growth there is clearer in the short term. Electrolysis makes hydrogen: devices use (preferably green) electricity to split water into hydrogen and oxygen. Bosch expects global electrolysis capacity to rise toward around 170,000 megawatts by 2030, with a market for electrolysis systems that could head toward 37 billion euros. In that market Bosch wants to become a central supplier of PEM stacks, the heart of such an installation. In short: instead of consuming hydrogen, Bosch would rather earn from making it. The fact that the stationary SOFC business proved expensive, with no clear business case for converting hydrogen back into power, accelerated that choice.

And yet the combustion engine: look at Le Mans

While the fuel cell is on a lower flame, something striking is happening on the other side of the hydrogen story. Bosch Engineering, together with Maserati, converted the Nettuno V6 engine into a hydrogen combustion engine, demonstrated this year in the Ligier JS2 RH2 at Le Mans. It shows that Bosch takes the hydrogen engine seriously, precisely for high-power applications and where battery-electric is difficult. For trucks and construction machinery too, Bosch is developing injectors for hydrogen engines, with a launch scheduled for 2026.

So is Bosch betting on combustion engines?

Does this mean Bosch is now going all-in on the combustion engine? It is not that black and white. Bosch deliberately keeps several hydrogen cards in hand: production (electrolysis), the fuel cell (scaled back, not gone) and the combustion engine (very much alive as a parallel track). A race demonstration at Le Mans is above all a showcase of what is possible; it is not yet proof of mass production. But it underlines that Bosch approaches hydrogen broadly and does not want to bet on a single technology.

What does this mean?

For hydrogen mobility this is a realistic interim report: Bosch is spreading its bets and matching its pace to demand. That is not a line through hydrogen, but a sign that technology, refuelling infrastructure and policy have to move in step. Alongside battery-electric, hydrogen remains a serious route to clean transport, especially for heavy and long-distance work — whether via the fuel cell or the combustion engine. At H2 Rijders we follow how this develops and keep our readers honestly informed, even when the news is temporarily disappointing.

Sources

• FleetOwner – "Bosch remains committed to hydrogen fuel for trucking" (7 January 2025)
• Hydrogen Fuel News – "From Engines to Electrolyzers: Bosch's Bold Hydrogen Vision" (8 January 2025)
• Bayern Innovativ – "Bosch relies on electrolysis instead of fuel cells" (21 January 2025)
• Renewables Now – "Bosch abandons fuel cells, shifts hydrogen focus to electrolysers" (21 February 2025)
• CNN Business – "Nikola files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy" (19 February 2025)
• Fuel Cells Works – "Bosch Pauses $200M Hydrogen Fuel Cell Plan in US" (3 March 2025)
• WardsAuto – "Bosch cuts 13,000 jobs citing tariffs, competition and hydrogen stall" (26 September 2025)
• Fuel Cells Works – "Bosch Slashes Workforce After Hydrogen and EV Bets Struggle" (30 September 2025)
• Fuel Cells Works – "Bosch China Cuts Nearly 200 Hydrogen Fuel Cell Jobs" (23 February 2026)
• Bosch Media Service / Fuel Cells Works – "Le Mans: Bosch and Maserati define the hydrogen-powered future of racing" (28 May 2026)
• CleanTechnica – "Bosch's Real Hydrogen Mistake Was Strategic, Not Financial" (9 July 2026)