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He became America’s youngest self-made billionaire after taking Hyliion public this fall, and now he’s discussing the future (which doesn’t likely include a presidential run.)
Hyliion founder and CEO Thomas Healy sat down with hosts Dooner and Michael Vincent on Thursday during a session of FreightWaves LIVE @HOME.
Hyliion’s focus is electrification of the trucking industry, aiming to outfit current fleets
with technology to make them renewable natural gas (RNG) dependent.
That comes with challenges.
“The crux behind electrification is figuring out how you are going to refuel these vehicles,” Healy said.
One way involves Hyliion’s recent partnership with American Natural Gas (ANG). That partnership gives Hyliion the ability to set up refueling stations at established locations with no cost to the customer; the costs are simply rolled into the fuel costs on the back end.
This also gave Hyliion the ability to guarantee preferred pricing from ANG to set up their RNG availability.
Healy said, “It’s the three things you really need: available infrastructure, low-cost RNG and the ability to get RNG.”
On a hot topic, Healy was asked how the results of the election will influence how Hyliion operates. He said it doesn’t matter who is president; his company will continue to grow the same way.
“We’re not sitting here saying, ‘Hey we need government incentives in order to deploy our trucks.’ This solution can save fleets money without even having a government subsidy behind it,” Healy said.
While Healy candidly shook off the question of running for president in 2028, he did offer some insight into the big-picture future of his company.
Healy believes the business opportunity overseas for Hyliion is massive, due to the large compressed natural gas infrastructure and the desire of international companies to be energy efficient.
Healy said most international companies are concerned about emission savings first and cost savings second, adding, “In the US it’s usually flipped, right? The first question is, ‘Hey is this going to save me money?’ and the emissions saving is the added benefit.”
Also on the table for the future? A possible expansion of Hyliion’s electric drivetrains into smaller vehicles, although the current focus is on Class A vehicles only.
You can catch the full interview in the video above and find Healy’s keynote address from Thursday morning’s session here (and you might even learn his opinions on Taco Bell while you’re at it).
