The company was formed on February 1, 2008 [1] as a spin-off from its predecessor, Ballard Power Systems to allow for further expansion of fuel cell technology.

[4] Ford Motor Company purchased the portion of AFCC owned by Ballard Power Systems in 2009 for $44.5M in gross proceeds, leaving it with 49.9% ownership, and Daimler AG (at present the Mercedes-Benz Group) as the major stakeholder with 50.1%.

The collaboration was to be jointly led by all three automakers with engineering work taking place at various locations around the world.

AFCC was responsible for the research and product development of automotive fuel cell stacks for the collaboration.

AFCC ended operations in June 2018, with much of the equipment was sold to Ballard Power Systems in July 2018.