Development of a hybrid fuel cell/battery powered electric vehicle

This paper describes the design and performance of a prototype zero emission electric vehicle, powered primarily by air-breathing proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cells using gaseous hydrogen as fuel. The fuel cell system is composed of the fuel cell stacks, hydrogen tank, air compressor, solenoid valves, pressure regulators, water pump, water tank, heat exchangers, sensors, programmable controller, and voltage regulator. The battery system provides power to the vehicle during periods of peak power demand such as vehicle acceleration or traveling at a high constant speed. The batteries also provide the power to initiate fuel cell start-up. The vehicle was designed, assembled, tested, acid has traveled several hundred kilometers solely on fuel cell power with satisfactory performance. It has successfully proved the concept of a fuel eel powered zero emission vehicle. Further enhancements will improve the performance in terms of increased speed, acceleration, fuel efficiency, range and reliability. Copyright (C) 1996 International Association for Hydrogen Energy.