Tesla announces release of a hydrogen-powered car, the “Model H”?

Claim:

Tesla announced plans to incorporate hydrogen fuel cell technology into a new car called “Model H.”

Evaluation:

During 2024, there were rumors online that electric car maker Tesla had announced the launch of a “Model H” car that would run on hydrogen fuel cells rather than battery power.

Several videos on the topic on YouTube received tens of thousands of views, leading to the publication of several articles detailing the alleged announcement. An article – which other sites quoted – said:

This is an about-face from Elon Musk, who had predicted that Tesla would integrate hydrogen fuel cells into its cars by 2025. Musk has been a critic of hydrogen for years, once calling the fuel “extremely silly.” Now he’s pinning his hopes on things about the technology driving Tesla’s growth.

The claim also spread across social media sites like Reddit and X, with many users appearing to believe the claim in the comments.

However, other social media users questioned the claim. “Fake. Elon has never confirmed this and is against it.” wrote one Reddit user. “THey, you’re fine! “This is an AI-generated prank video,” one commenter posted on YouTube.

Although it is possible to use hydrogen fuel cell technology in an electric vehicle (automakers Toyota and Honda have both made hydrogen-powered cars), we have found no evidence that Tesla or Musk, its CEO, have made such an announcement. If they had, major news outlets and trade publications would have covered it.

Musk has publicly opposed hydrogen fuel cell technology, saying at a conference in 2015 that hydrogen fuel cells were “extremely silly.”

In 2020, he posted onHydrogen fool sales make no sense.”

We’ve reached out to Tesla and Musk for comment and will update this story if we hear back.

In summary, we classify this claim as false because Tesla has not made a public announcement that the company is launching a hydrogen fuel cell powered car called the Model H.

Sources