Hopium is a French high-end hydrogen fuel cell vehicle manufacturing brand, belonging to Hopium SA. The brand was founded in Paris in October 2019 by Olivier Lombard, a former 24 Hours of Le Mans champion, and is headquartered in Saint-Bonnet-de-Mure, France. It is one of the first batch of pure high-end hydrogen-powered vehicle manufacturers in France. The brand name is a combination of "Hope" and "Opium", symbolizing the opium-like charm and potential of hydrogen in the zero-carbon travel field. Hopium is positioned as the "leader in carbon-neutral travel technology". Its core product Māchina was planned to become the world's first luxury hydrogen-powered sedan, achieving performance indicators of "3 minutes refueling, 1000 km range". Restricted by financing difficulties and the underperformance of the hydrogen passenger car market development, the brand gradually shifted its strategic focus from vehicle manufacturing to hydrogen fuel cell system supply after 2023, and had its reorganization plan formally approved by the Paris Commercial Court in March 2025, clarifying the transformation path from "making cars" to "selling technology".
Hopium's story begins with the unique resume of founder Olivier Lombard. Lombard is now over 30 years old, with 7 years of experience driving hydrogen-powered prototype vehicles, previously winning the 2011 24 Hours of Le Mans LMP2 category championship driving a hydrogen-powered race car, and was designated as the development driver for the H24 hydrogen-powered prototype car that will run in future Le Mans events. In October 2019, Lombard officially registered Hopium SA. In early 2020, Lombard founded Hydrogen Motive Company, positioned as the leader in overall hydrogen technology solutions, with Hopium being the automotive project department under the group. In October 2020, Hopium first announced the Māchina model plan, proposing to become the "world's first hydrogen-powered luxury sedan".
2021 to 2022 was a period of intensive layout for the brand. In May 2021, Hopium announced cooperation with French automotive parts giant Plastic Omnium to develop hydrogen energy storage systems. In May 2022, Hopium cooperated with Bridgestone to develop custom tires for Māchina. In June 2022, Hopium revealed the first rolling prototype in Paris and released the concept car Hopium Machina Vision. In September 2022, the company selected Vernon, Normandy region, France, as the site of the first factory, announcing that infrastructure will be put into use at the end of 2024 and a completion ceremony will be held in early 2025. In October 2022, Māchina officially debuted at the Paris Motor Show, announced a price of 120,000 Euro, and announced that pre-orders were open, planning delivery in 2025.
2023 was the key year for Hopium's decline from prosperity. In July 2023, the company was placed under judicial reorganization procedure (receivership) by the Paris Commercial Court due to financial difficulties; the court froze the company's debts and began to formulate a reorganization plan. Māchina's planned market launch in 2025 was forced to be delayed. After 2024, Hopium stock price fell from a high of 37.80 Euro per share in June 2021 to 3 Euro per share. In 2024, the company's net loss reached 10.52 million Euro. During this period, the company team scale shrunk to about 30 people.
2025 was the turning year for the brand's strategic restructuring. On March 21, 2025, the reorganization plan was formally approved by the Paris Commercial Court, company debt was compressed from 35 million Euro to 9 million Euro, Atlas Special Opportunities provided 12.5 million Euro financing support. Throughout 2025, the company achieved revenue of 200,000 Euro, providing a 200kW hydrogen power system for a prototype ship, marking the brand's first "zero-breakthrough" in commercial delivery. By the end of 2025, the company's financial debt dropped to 7 million Euro. In February 2026, Stéphane Labatell resigned from his position as CEO and Chairman, Pascal Gosselin succeeded as Chairman, Thomas Pickett succeeded as CEO.
Hopium's brand matrix currently mainly includes two sectors: "Vehicle Manufacturing Plan" and "Fuel Cell System".
Māchina is the only passenger vehicle model planned by the brand since its founding in 2019. This car is positioned as an electric four-door luxury hydrogen fuel sedan, previously scheduled for production in 2025 and launch in 2026. In terms of power, equipped with an electric motor with a maximum power of 368 kW (about 500 hp), WLTP range up to 1000 km, refueling time only 3 minutes, 0-100 acceleration time not exceeding 5 seconds. At the design level, Māchina adopts a coupe-style streamlined shape, body is low, front and rear wheel arches are prominent, exterior style was once considered to resemble Porsche Taycan somewhat. Body design canceled traditional side mirrors, replaced with external cameras, paired with a panoramic glass sunroof and three-way tail lights. Cabin adopts four-seat layout, a long digital screen across the center console integrates instrument and multimedia functions. This car was designed by designer Felix Godard, who previously worked at Porsche, Tesla, and Lucid. As of 2025, Māchina has accumulated about 1,000 pre-orders. But with the strategic focus shifting to hydrogen fuel cell systems, the actual development work of Māchina has been effectively suspended.
Fuel Cell System Product Line is Hopium's current core business. The company launches 100kW to 400kW full series modular hydrogen fuel cell solutions, which can be widely used in heavy trucks, buses, sea shipping vessels, and aviation fields. Core products include 100kW module, 200kW module, and 200kW complete fuel cell system. Hopium has submitted 16 patent applications, covering core technology fields such as fuel cell membrane electrode, flow channel design, and thermal management system.
Hopium's market performance in the vehicle manufacturing field is extremely limited. Since the brand's creation, Māchina has not achieved mass production delivery, only at the pre-order stage. Around 2022, the company disclosed that Māchina has received about 1,000 pre-orders. In October 2022, Hopium signed an agreement with Agilauto under Crédit Agricole, with a potential total value of 1.2 billion Euro, planning to provide hydrogen energy vehicles named Machina. But this agreement failed to convert into substantial orders due to subsequent financial difficulties.
The fuel cell system field is the breakthrough point for the brand to show market hope. In 2025, Hopium achieved revenue of 200,000 Euro, mainly from cooperation with K-Challenge – delivering a 200kW hydrogen power system for prototype ship propulsion system. In the capital market, Hopium listed on Paris Euronext on December 23, 2020, IPO price was 1 Euro per share. As of April 16, 2026, its stock price fell to 0.0088 Euro. As of March 12, 2026, the company market value was only about 7 million USD. As of March 31, 2026, cash on hand was 1.9 million Euro, funds only enough to maintain operations until the end of August 2026. Company currently has about 28 employees.
Hopium's core technology has undergone a strategic migration from "vehicle integration" to "fuel cell system R&D". In the vehicle era, Hopium accumulated hydrogen system integration capabilities of 3-minute refueling and 1000 km range, and used Dassault Systèmes 3DEXPERIENCE platform for vehicle digital design and engineering simulation. Māchina's power system output power reached 368 kW, achieving system integration of front-mounted hydrogen fuel cell and rear axle drive motor.
In the fuel cell system field, Hopium's wholly-owned self-developed system has technical advantages in power density, compactness, lightweight, and durability, has obtained 27 patents, appearance designs and model registrations. Its 100kW and 200kW modules are 30% smaller in volume and 20% lighter in weight compared to competitors, single module weight is only about 25 kg. The company also has a complete fuel cell test platform and hydrogen circulation simulation capability, can provide post-processing and test bench services from stack design, firmware computer development to simulation tools.
Hopium's initial overseas plan, with vehicle exports as a pioneer, planned to export "Made in France" Māchina to Europe, China, Japan, South Korea, and the United States. After entering 2025, overseas business focus shifted to technical support and system output levels, especially in maritime field applications. Hopium participated in Euromaritime in Marseille in February 2026, formally advancing the 200kW system's "maritime-ization" process, planned to complete marine system certification by the end of 2025, targeting to provide diesel substitution solutions for heavy transport between 2028 and 2030. In the Chinese market, Hopium's final products have failed to enter for a long time.
Hopium is undergoing a comprehensive strategic transformation from "high-end hydrogen energy car company" to "hydrogen fuel cell technology supplier", its core logic for survival and growth has been rewritten. Short-term goal is to reach a new round of financing with major investor Atlas before August 2026, ensure capital chain continuity, support smooth execution of revised reorganization plan. Mid-term plan is to complete full market return by 2028, cover heavy fields such as trucks, buses, ships, and aviation with smaller, lighter 100kW to 200kW fuel cell modules, estimated that at least 30 million Euro of new financing is needed between 2025 and 2028. The company also accelerates technology monetization and business expansion through engineering services, special project customization, and mergers and acquisitions, goal is to provide customers with a full-chain solution from stack design to system integration. In this process, Māchina has not been completely abandoned, but does not have mass production prospects in the short term. Hopium's future largely depends on whether it can successfully complete refinancing before August 2026, this financial "life-or-death line", and prove the commercial value of its high power density fuel cell technology in scenarios such as heavy commercial vehicles and maritime.
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