First Hydrogen has announced the appointment of Stephen Pendrey as Chief Engineer – Vehicle Program for its Automotive division. His appointment to the company’s UK-based technical team signifies further growth and commitment to delivering the brand’s first hydrogen-fuelled, zero-emissions utility vehicles. With 35 years of experience in cutting-edge product development for the automotive sector, Stephen has led multinational teams and been commercially responsible for a range of international projects with brands including Jaguar Land Rover, Daimler Trucks and Volvo.
His most recent role, Automotive Programmes Director at Belcan Global Engineering (Belcan) saw him establish and grow the Belcan Automotive Division in the UK. Stephen has worked on a number of innovative electric vehicle projects, developing products including high-performance sports cars, light-duty trucks, buses and military vehicles. Prior to Belcan, Stephen was European Programmes Director at Tata Technologies, part of the Tata Group of companies. Here, he was responsible for all major deliverable-based programmes worldwide, including the Polestar 600bhp PHEV based in Sweden, an 8×8 military vehicle-based in the U.A.E, and the management and coordination of key accounts of Aston Martin and McLaren Automotive. In his role at First Hydrogen, Stephen is responsible for managing the program engineering and development activities as well as supporting the company to meet its ambitions to mass manufacture fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs).
Steve Gill, Director and CEO of First Hydrogen Automotive, says: “We’re delighted to welcome Stephen aboard. We were hugely impressed with his strengths as a team leader, communicator and project manager. He brings knowledge and expertise across the complete product development process, having led teams to successfully deliver many high-value, complex projects. His experience in supervising the build of simulator and prototype vehicles from concept, will also prove invaluable in our next milestone – the development and delivery of our hydrogen fuel cell demonstrator vehicles, which enter road testing in just a couple of months, and which will be available to prospective customers for road testing in September 2022.”
Stephen Pendrey, Chief Engineer for First Hydrogen Automotive, comments: “Zero emissions and the role transportation plays in carbon reduction is a huge and complex challenge for the automotive industry, so it’s fantastic to work with a brand developing a direct solution and a proven team of automotive professionals. I am excited to help drive First Hydrogen forward in the development and roll-out of its first hydrogen fuel cell commercial vehicles, drawing on my skills and experience to deliver high-quality products to market.”
