Running management of single operator fuel cell vehicle

We are developing a small, single operator fuel cell vehicle with a 1kW fuel cell, which we named the micro FCV. A hybrid energy control system using a DCDC converter was designed for the vehicle. We have entered into a micro FCV competition, the World Green Challenge 2011 (WGC 2011), which challenges participants to develop vehicles which would deliver optimum performance at a low cost. During travel on flat surfaces using no acceleration, or low power mode, a fuel cell is used. A battery and the fuel cell are used when the vehicle operates in high power mode, i.e. while accelerating or ascending an incline. A micro computer controlled hybrid energy control system toggles between the energy flows dependent on the power requirements. Running experiments provided positive performance results demonstrating that the micro FCV was able to operate efficiently using the hybrid energy control system we developed. This paper discusses the running management of the micro FCV.