Bosch will invest more than $200 million to expand a facility to build hydrogen-powered fuel cells for heavy-duty truck makers.

Production is expected to start in 2026. The facility, located in Anderson, South Carolina in the United States, will add up to 350 jobs.

As part of Bosch’s local for local manufacturing strategy, the fuel cell stacks produced in Anderson will drive hydrogen-powered trucks coming to the roads of the U.S. in the next few years.

“The hydrogen economy holds great promise and at Bosch we are all in,” said Mike Mansuetti, president of Bosch in North America.

“This is a significant milestone as we announce the first fuel-cell related production for Bosch in the U.S. to support the growing demand from our local customers as part of a diverse approach to powertrain technology.”

The Bosch Anderson facility has already begun work on the expansion to support fuel cell technology. Capital upgrades to the Anderson campus include an estimated 147,000 square feet of floorspace to be developed to manufacture the fuel cell stack as well as supporting clean room and climate-controlled environments required for quality-critical processes.

Fuel cell stack production is highly complex. One stack consists of 3200 individual parts assembled, more than 400 layers and more than 100 unique components. Fuel cell stack production in Anderson will expand on Bosch’s existing global production for fuel cell stacks, including critical sub-components.

Bosch will be one of the first to market with large-scale production to support hydrogen-powered commercial vehicles. The company recently announced it would invest more than USD$1 billion globally to develop mobile fuel cell technologies by 2024.

The company previously announced a collaboration with Powercell to develop the fuel cell stack. The goal has been a high-performance solution that can be manufactured at high volume and a market-competitive cost.