Fuel Cell Electric Vehicle Characterisation under Laboratory and In-use Operation

Fuel Cell Electric Vehicles (FCEVs) are one of the main options considered as possible future alternatives to conventional vehicles. The paper evaluates a light-duty FCEV under both laboratory and on-road conditions. Hydrogen consumption and vehicle efficiency were measured over various driving and temperature conditions. Results show hydrogen consumption between 0.975 kg/100 km and 1.5 kg/100 km, close to the officially declared value. A new extended formulation of vehicle efficiency is proposed to consider different energy streams in the vehicle. Vehicle indicative efficiency remained between 50% and 60% on the majority of cases. The paper also investigates the feasibility of applying a fuel cell system of similar characteristics for commercial urban and rural applications, the Vehicle Energy Consumption Calculation TOol (VECTO), as a possible alternative solution to a battery electric equivalent vehicle.