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First Mode gets specific about its clean-tech layoffs

Opening ceremony for First Mode Seattle factory
First Mode CEO Julian Soles speaks at the February opening of the company's Seattle factory. (First Mode Photo)

Seattle-based First Mode is reporting that 65 of its workers in Washington state are being laid off in a move that follows through on a previously announced plan to trim back operations at the clean-tech company.

The layoffs were cited in a notice filed today with the state’s Employment Security Department. The reported job reductions represent nearly 40% of First Mode’s Washington state workforce in Seattle and Centralia.

First Mode produces powertrain conversion kits that are designed to reduce carbon emissions for mining trucks and other heavyweight vehicles, potentially including railway locomotives.

Back in January, the company said that it would put less emphasis on hydrogen-battery powertrains and more emphasis on hybrid diesel-battery powertrains — and that it would have to reduce its workforce to adjust to changing market conditions.

About 20% of First Mode’s U.S.-based workforce was laid off in January. Last month, First Mode said it would have to make further cuts in preparation for seeking further investment.

“Despite efforts to revisit non-labor costs, significantly reducing recruitment, and terminating most contract labor to avoid headcount reductions, we still are not able to achieve the cost basis required and therefore must propose headcount reductions going forward,” First Mode CEO Julian Soles said in an email that was sent to employees in advance of today’s notice.

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Clean-tech pioneer First Mode braces for more layoffs

Mining truck at First Mode's proving grounds in Centralia
A hybrid mining truck takes a test drive through First Mode’s Centralia proving grounds. (First Mode via X)

First Mode, a Seattle-based company that’s concentrating on reducing carbon emissions in mining and other heavy industries, has alerted its employees to a significant round of layoffs that’s expected to unfold in early August.

A memo sent out today to U.S. employees doesn’t specify how many will be laid off — and emphasized that “individual determinations are still in process.” But First Mode told me in an email that the layoffs could amount to as much as 50% of the company’s global workforce.

In the memo to employees, chief people officer Mornie Robertson said the total number of impacted workers in the U.S. “will be large enough” to obligate First Mode to provide all U.S. employees with notification under the terms of the WARN Act. That blanket 60-day advance notification accompanied today’s memo.

“Impacted employees will be notified the week of August 5,” Robertson wrote.

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Universal Hydrogen shuts down a year after first flight

Universal Hydrogen plane in flight
Universal Hydrogen’s prototype plane takes flight in Moses Lake, Wash., in March 2023. (Universal Hydrogen Photo)

California-based Universal Hydrogen — which put a hybrid prototype for a hydrogen-fueled airplane into the air last year in Moses Lake, Wash. — has run out of money and is shutting down operations.

The shutdown was first reported June 29 by The Seattle Times, citing a letter that was sent to shareholders on June 27 by Mark Cousin, the startup’s chairman and CEO. Cousin’s letter said the company’s executives were “unable to secure sufficient equity or debt financing to continue operations and similarly were unable to secure an actionable offer for a sale of the business or similar strategic exit transaction,” according to the newspaper.

Universal Hydrogen co-founder Jon Gordon confirmed the closure in a LinkedIn posting. “Despite everyone’s best efforts, UH2 proved unable to secure additional funding to move forward,” Gordon wrote. “Perhaps we were just too early. Perhaps we couldn’t convince the world that hydrogen, and not just SAF [sustainable aviation fuels], are necessary for the future of aviation. Time will tell.”

Universal Hydrogen made its mark in March 2023 when it flew a modified De Havilland Dash 8-300 turboprop with a hydrogen-fueled electric propulsion system mounted on the plane’s right wing. The system incorporated a megawatt-class motor built by Everett, Wash.-based MagniX. The engine on the left side was left unconverted to serve as a backup.

Less than four months after that initial flight, Universal Hydrogen relocated its test program from Moses Lake to the Mojave Air and Space Port in California. In February, the company announced a successful on-the-ground test of its hydrogen storage module and fuel-cell powertrain — and said it planned to have the system used in passenger airplanes by 2026.

Universal Hydrogen’s shutdown serves as one more sign that if hydrogen is to become a widely used energy option, it’s likely to take longer than its proponents had hoped.

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First Mode downsizes and revises its clean tech plans

First Mode hybrid diesel-electric truck during test drive
First Mode’s hybrid diesel-electric truck takes on its first tests in Centralia, Wash. (First Mode via LinkedIn)

First Mode says it’s cutting back on its workforce as it adjusts to the market demand for heavy trucks that rely less on fossil fuels.

The workforce in the U.S., which currently amounts to about 240 people, is being immediately reduced by about 20%, First Mode CEO Julian Soles said in an email sent to employees today. Most of those employees are in Washington state — for example, at First Mode’s Seattle HQ and at its proving grounds in Centralia, Wash.

About 125 additional employees work in non-U.S. offices. Soles said operations in Australia, Britain and South Africa “may also possibly experience redundancies,” while operations in Chile are “not currently impacted.”

Despite the cutbacks, First Mode is continuing with plans to retrofit mining trucks to reduce their carbon footprint and address the climate challenge. “This is the year that we deliver commercial products to our customer sites. It is also when we finalise our transformation from an engineering services firm to a global decarbonisation product company,” Soles wrote, using British spellings.

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Azure Quantum joins the hunt for new fuel-cell catalysts

A hydrogen-powered car fills up at a refueling station
A hydrogen-powered car fills up at a refueling station. (Johnson Matthey via YouTube)

Chemists at Microsoft Azure Quantum are teaming up with Johnson Matthey, a British-based clean-tech company, to identify new types of catalysts for hydrogen fuel cells.

The project demonstrates how quantum information science could help reduce the automobile industry’s carbon footprint and address the challenge of climate change.

“So far, Johnson Matthey has seen a twofold acceleration in quantum chemistry calculations, and we’re just getting started,” Nathan Baker, senior director of partnerships for chemistry and materials at Microsoft, said today in a blog posting. “Both companies recognize that the discoveries needed to create a zero-carbon future will require significant breakthroughs in chemical and materials science, and are enthusiastic about the difference we can make in the world together.”

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Hydrogen-powered plane aces its first flight

Universal Hydrogen plane in flight
Universal Hydrogen’s prototype plane takes flight in Moses Lake, Wash., in March 2023. (Universal Hydrogen Photo)

A prototype aircraft with a hydrogen-fueled powertrain successfully completed an initial 15-minute flight today at Grant County International Airport in Moses Lake, Wash., marking a significant step for zero-emission aviation.

Los Angeles-based Universal Hydrogen had the 40-passenger De Havilland Dash 8-300 turboprop converted to use hydrogen to power an electric propulsion system mounted on the plane’s right wing. The system incorporates a fuel cell built by Plug Power and a megawatt-class motor built by Everett, Wash.-based MagniX. Seattle-based AeroTEC assisted with the engineering for the conversion.

The engine on the left side was left unconverted to serve as a backup in case the hydrogen-based system encountered problems.

Universal Hydrogen and its partners worked in Moses Lake for months to get the plane — nicknamed Lightning McClean — ready for today’s first aerial tryout, conducted under the conditions of an experimental airworthiness certificate from the Federal Aviation Administration.

The flight began at 8:41 a.m. PT and reached a maximum altitude of 3,500 feet. “We were able to throttle back the fossil-fuel turbine engine to demonstrate cruise principally on hydrogen power,” test pilot Alex Kroll said in a news release. “The airplane handled beautifully, and the noise and vibrations from the fuel cell powertrain are significantly lower than from the conventional turbine engine.”

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Clean-energy funding gives ‘Hydrogen Valley’ a boost

Zero-emission haul truck
This ore-hauling truck is powered by a hydrogen-fueled powerplant. (First Mode / Anglo American Photo)

First Mode, the clean-energy company that was recently transformed from a Seattle startup into an Anglo American subsidiary, is getting a boost from Washington state.

The Washington State Department of Commerce awarded $250,000 in economic development funding to the Economic Alliance of Lewis County to help First Mode with design and construction costs related to the company’s future facility in Centralia, Wash.

First Mode is planning to turn a former coal mine site, leased from TransAlta, into a proving grounds for its hydrogen-fueled hybrid powertrain for heavy mining trucks. The building plan calls for providing 7,500 square feet of office space and 20,000 square feet of outdoor yard space, with an option for expansion.

The powertrains have been under development at First Mode’s lab in Seattle, and last year a prototype truck made its debut at a platinum mine in South Africa.

Eventually, Anglo American plans to have First Mode convert hundreds of ultra-class haul trucks to run on hydrogen and battery power. The technology for the trucks and the fueling and charging infrastructure will be tested at the Centralia site.

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Hydrogen-fueled plane wins FAA flight clearance

Universal Hydrogen plane at Moses Lake airport
Universal Hydrogen’s aircraft is being put through its paces in Moses Lake, Wash. (Universal Hydrogen Photo)

Universal Hydrogen says its hydrogen-fueled test aircraft has won a key certification from regulators and has completed its first taxi tests at Grant County International Airport in Moses Lake, Wash.

Those two developments bring the California-based company closer to the first flight of its modified De Havilland Dash 8-300 aircraft, nicknamed “Lightning McClean.” The plane’s right engine has been replaced with a hydrogen fuel cell powertrain, featuring an electric motor built by Everett, Wash.-based MagniX.

Seattle-based AeroTEC is handling the engineering work for the conversion, while New York-based Plug Power is providing the fuel cells. The Pratt & Whitney engine on the left side of the plane has been kept intact as a backup for flight tests.

Lightning McClean won a special airworthiness certificate in the experimental category from the Federal Aviation Administration — which is a prerequisite for flight testing. Universal Hydrogen hasn’t provided a development timeline, but the first flight could come within the next few months if ground testing goes well.

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First Mode goes all in on clean energy for heavy industry

Zero-emission haul truck
This ore-hauling truck is powered by a hydrogen-fueled powerplant. (First Mode / Anglo American Photo)

Seattle-based First Mode and Anglo American have closed a complicated $1.5 billion transaction that will remake First Mode as a clean-energy company for heavy industry — and shift its headquarters to London.

Anglo American, a global mining company, is now First Mode’s majority shareholder. The change of status was reflected in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, which reported a $1.184 billion equity offering sold to Anglo American. That’s in addition to a $200 million cash injection that Anglo American is providing, First Mode spokeswoman Colleen Rubart told me in an email.

Rubart said the balance of the $1.5 billion comes in the form of contributions of intellectual property, contracts, facilities and other assets from both of the parties involved in the deal. The deal closed on Jan. 5, she said.

The business combination, which was announced last year, blends First Mode’s engineering operation with Anglo American’s nuGen effort to develop a zero-emission system for hauling ore. First Mode created the hydrogen-fueled hybrid powerplant for Anglo American’s nuGen mining truck, which made its debut in South Africa last year as the world’s largest zero-emission vehicle.

Going forward, First Mode will supply nuGen systems to Anglo American. The project will include the retrofit of about 400 ultra-class haul trucks with First Mode’s powerplant, plus the provision of infrastructure for hydrogen production, refueling and battery recharging.

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Hydrogen-powered airplane revs up for flight tests

Experimental plane with hydrogen-powered motor
A De Havilland Dash 8-300 plane spins a hydrogen-powered propeller. (Universal Hydrogen via Twitter)

Is hydrogen the green aviation fuel of the future? An industry team led by California-based Universal Hydrogen is testing out that proposition amid the scrublands of central Washington state.

Universal Hydrogen is readying its converted De Havilland Dash 8-300 turboprop plane for initial flight tests later this year at Grant County International Airport in Moses Lake, Wash., with an assist from Washington state partners including Seattle-based AeroTEC and Everett-based MagniX.

Last week, Universal Hydrogen announced that it spun up the propeller on the plane’s MagniX-built electric motor powered completely by hydrogen fuel for the first time. This week, “Lightning McClean” is set to start ground testing in earnest.

“We’ll run the powertrain on the ground with the aircraft static … up to maximum power,” Mark Cousin, Universal Hydrogen’s chief technology officer, told me. “Once we’re happy with the behavior of the system, we will then move into taxi testing and the buildup to flight.”

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