The saga of the H2Trac continues, with the company once again rising from the ashes with a new set of investors led by the founder of the software company Quantillion.
Hilbrand Kuiken is the businessman behind Quantillion, a Dutch company that specialises in the automation of warehouse picking systems and other industrial operations.
Past struggles
The H2Trac is a hydrogen-powered systems tractor that relies on fuel cells rather than the combustion of hydrogen to power it.
In November of last year the company was declared insolvent, with little information on how many machines had been sold or were currently in production.
It has since emerged that the business has been purchased by a group of investors for €790,000.
Tractor or testbed?
As a systems tractor with electrical drive to all four wheels, it was intended as a platform for the latest crop care technology, and it may well be this aspect which appealed to the latest investors.
Quantillion describes itself as being “on a mission to bring power of autonomous decision-making to every machine, every worker, and every factory”.
Whether Hilbrand Kuien is wishing to apply the company’s expertise to farming is, for the time being, a matter of conjecture, although it may initially be considered a logical move.
Quantillion is industry focussed
However, Quantillion, is eager to sell itself as a provider of route planning and traffic management systems for all industries that rely on machine movements.
This opens the possibility that it intends the H2Trac to be adapted for other uses, as tractors have been since they were invented, quarrying and mining being obvious markets for rough terrain vehicles.
The H2Trac as a concept is obviously attractive to entrepreneurs in the field of automation, yet it doesn’t follow that it will remain targeted at its original customer base.