Sir Jim Ratcliffe, the Ineos chemicals and energy tycoon, has lobbied Sir Keir Starmer to get Labour behind a nationwide road transport hydrogen refuelling infrastructure in the hope of avoiding a repeat of the haphazard introduction of the UK’s battery electric car-recharging network.

Frustrated by the government’s failure to properly prepare for the emergence of hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicles in the 2030s, Ratcliffe is understood to have had talks with Starmer to press the need for a strategy should Labour win the next election. The two are known to have become acquaintances and recently sat together at a Premier League match between Arsenal, which Starmer supports, and Manchester United, which Ratcliffe co-owns.

By the time the UK bans the sale of new petrol and diesel vehicles in 2035, hydrogen fuel cells are heavily tipped to have become a viable zero-emission alternative to battery electric cars in certain transport sectors.

Hydrogen fuel cells are seen as a preferred technology for longer distance driving and heavier-end or working vehicles, those that need an off-road capability, and for the emergency services. Fuel cell technology has been embraced by two of the world’s leading automotive groups, Toyota and BMW.

Ineos has a significant stake in a hydrogen future. Not only is it, through its Inovyn subsidiary, one of Europe’s emerging players in the production and storage of non-carbon green hydrogen, its Ineos Automotive subsidiary plans to produce fuel cell versions of its Grenadier off-roader.

Speaking last week, however, at a testing facility for a hydrogen Grenadier prototype, £5 million in development and built with BMW fuel cell technology, Ineos Automotive’s chief executive Lynn Calder expressed frustration at the government’s lack of engagement in future hydrogen vehicles.

“There is currently no business case for a hydrogen Grenadier,” Calder said, citing government policy. “Our frustration is that there is a lack of understanding of the complexity of the decarbonisation problem. We believe there needs to be a multi-technology powertrain strategy and not just battery electric.”

She continued: “This country is backing a single horse [battery electric technology] and that strategy will fail … No one in government has at any stage asked the driver what they want or need.”

Calder said Ineos had approached the Labour leadership. “We have had plenty of conversations and right to the very top,” she said.

Ineos has calculated that at a minimum there needs to be 65 public hydrogen refuelling stations in Britain before a business case for hydrogen passenger vehicles takes shape. At present there are fewer than ten such facilities.

The Department for Transport challenged the comments from Ineos. “It was the car industry, not government, which decided across the world that battery electric technology was the most suitable choice for decarbonising cars and vans,” an official said. “Our zero-emission vehicle regulation applies equally to hydrogen powered and battery vehicles.”