Practical implementation of an hybrid electric-fuel cell vehicle

Electric vehicles are currently the focus of the researchers all over the world. High harmful gas emissions from conventional vehicles and the rising of new clean and competitive energy sources have leaded to an increasing interest of vehicle providers and consumers. In this paper, a practical example of an hybrid vehicle is addressed. The hybrid vehicle is driven by an array of batteries and a 5 kW fuel cell. The changes done in the vehicle chassis, the necessary power electronic converter and the control and monitoring systems are explained in this paper. Some experimental results are shown in order to show the vehicle performance. The vehicle range has been approximately doubled using the hybrid electric- fuel cell system. The proposed hybrid vehicle, tested under real weather conditions, has demonstrated a high robustness and reliability.