ALEXANDRIA, Va.—EG Group’s founders, Mohsin and Zuber Issa, are partnering with Glasgow-based HV Systems (HVS) to design and manufacture hydrogen vehicles for commercial use, Private Equity Wire reports.

Beehive Equity Ltd., a wholly owned subsidiary of EG Group, made the £5 million (US$6.9 million) investment in HVS, which was founded in 2017. The startup is focused on the design and development of zero-emission hydrogen-powered medium commercial vehicles and heavy good vehicles.

"Most credible data points indicate that the hydrogen industry is expected to grow significantly in the next decade. We are therefore delighted to be investing in HVS at a time where they are working hard to be thought and design leaders for hydrogen-fueled medium and heavy goods vehicles. We look forward to being part of that journey, alongside HVS’ founders, management team and broader stakeholders as EG broadens our own fuels and mobility proposition,” said Zuber Issa CBE, co-founder and co-group CEO, EG Group.

HVS said it has created two zero-emissions vehicles. “Over the next two years we are going to see not one, but two, revolutionary, world-first indigenous U.K. hydrogen-powered vehicles on our roads as we demonstrate our van first, then our truck,” said Jawad Khursheed, CEO, HVS.

Founded in 2001 by the Issa Family, United Kingdom-based EG Group is a global convenience retailer employing more than 44,000 people working in more than 6,000 sites across Europe, the United States and Australia.

NACS Magazine features an interview with the Issa brothers in the January 2021 issue in “On the Move.”

Listen to Convenience Matters Episode No. 169, “Should You Bet on Hydrogen Fuel?” as James Kast, fuel cell business analyst for Toyota North America, and David Park, fuel cell fuels infrastructure coordinator for the California Fuel Cell Partnership, discuss the role hydrogen is playing in the future of transportation.