International projects
Fuel Cell Hybrid Vehicle System Component Development
Organisations (1)
Abstract
The objective of the project is the research on of low-cost components for fuel cell (FC-) systems and electric drive systems which can be used in future hybridised FC-vehicles (medium term objective) and ICE vehicles. The components will be analysed and tested in two FC-vehicle platforms with different concepts. The project consortium consists of 6 major European car manufacturers, 10 major and smaller suppliers, 6 institutes and 4 universities. The focus of the project is on components which have a high potential of significant cost reduction by decreasing complexity and/or choosing innovative approaches to support a future mass production. In the field of FC-system components the key components which are investigated are innovative air supply based on electrical turbochargers, novel humidification subsystems, new hydrogen sensors and innovative hydrogen injection system components. For the electric drive system we focus on highly integrated drive trains (converters, inverters and electrical motors) and high-energy-density battery systems based on innovative Li-Ion technology which has been developed in EU funded projects (EV-lift, Lionheart). All the component work is accompanied by a sub project which will work on requirements of the vehicles, subsystems and components, standardisation of the components, identification of synergies between components for FC- and ICE Hybrids, safety aspects and a comparative investigation of different electrical storage systems (battery / supercap) and the respective e-storage management. In the system level subproject not only will the components be integrated in the two validator vehicles and tested, but it will also be worked on optimised vehicle control strategies, energy-management and development of modular system control software. The improved system components and subsystems could be used as a basis for future FC- and ICE-vehicles which are planned to be deployed in the HyCOM initiative and the Lighthouse projects.
