Opinion: Volkswagen built the foundation for a hydrogen car back in 2014 — so why is there still nothing in the showroom?

Jonas Borchelt, a digital transformation professional, published a striking opinion piece on LinkedIn on 1 May 2026 with a clear message for Volkswagen: the time for hydrogen is now. The piece is not an official VW position, but it raises a legitimate question backed by concrete historical facts and technical arguments — why has Europe's largest car group never brought its own hydrogen technology into production?

The Golf HyMotion: VW's forgotten hydrogen car

In November 2014, Volkswagen unveiled the Golf Variant HyMotion at the Los Angeles Auto Show — a fully driveable prototype of a fuel cell Golf estate. The technical specs were already impressive at the time: 100 kW of power, a range of 500 kilometres from four carbon fibre hydrogen tanks housed in the floor, and a refuelling time of just three minutes. The drivetrain was based on the e-Golf and the whole package was built on the modular MQB platform — the same platform VW uses for almost all of its models.

VW itself described it not as science fiction, but as a concrete demonstration of what was technically possible on the MQB platform. The Golf became the first car in the world proven to accommodate every conceivable powertrain — petrol, diesel, CNG, hybrid, electric and fuel cell — on the same architecture.

Despite this, no series production was announced. VW pointed to the lack of hydrogen infrastructure and the not-yet-climate-neutral production of hydrogen as barriers.

Borchelt's case

Borchelt lays out a series of arguments for why VW should take hydrogen seriously again:

Range and refuelling speed have long ceased to be obstacles — 500 km was already achievable at VW in 2014, and hydrogen refuels as fast as petrol. For larger vehicles, hydrogen also offers weight advantages over heavy battery packs. Reduced dependence on critical raw materials for batteries is another benefit, as hydrogen vehicles do not require large traction batteries and the complex supply chains they entail. For fleets, commuters, business travel and motorway use, a targeted refuelling network is sufficient as a first step. The technical control of fuel cells is no longer an unsolved problem, as shown by model-based control approaches described by the Max Planck Society. Supercapacitors can handle power peaks and recuperation, meaning a fuel cell vehicle does not need a large buffer battery. Toyota and Hyundai have demonstrated for years that fuel cell vehicles work in everyday life — including the Mirai deployed by CleverShuttle as a hydrogen taxi fleet in Hamburg.

Borchelt also raises the preservation of industrial knowledge as an argument: hydrogen combustion engines can be built relatively quickly on existing engine expertise, preserving jobs and know-how in the automotive sector — something that is far less straightforward with the shift to battery-electric.

What is VW's current situation?

Volkswagen is navigating difficult waters: falling EV sales, growing Chinese competition, and an operating profit that dropped by more than half in 2025. The battery-electric strategy has not yet delivered the expected economies of scale. Meanwhile, the Toyota Mirai and Hyundai Nexo have been on European roads for years, and players like Scania, Daimler and Gruber Logistics are actively trialling hydrogen trucks in real operations.

Whether VW is actually reconsidering its direction is not known. Borchelt's piece is a personal argument — but the technical case is solid and the question he poses is legitimate: why did Europe's largest carmaker demonstrate it could be done twelve years ago, only to put the idea in a drawer?

Sources:

• Jonas Borchelt / LinkedIn (01-05-2026)
• VW Press Portal Golf Variant HyMotion (2014)
• ecomento.de
• Focus.de
• Toyota Europe
• Taxi Heute (CleverShuttle)
• Max Planck Society