Plug-in Fuel Cell Electric Vehicle Concept in Relation to Driving Practices in the Czech Republic

Abstract

The transition to fossil-free transport is an unavoidable challenge that is ahead of us in the Czech transport sector in the not-too-distant future. The most promising alternatives to fossil fuels, currently under serial production, are battery electric vehicles and fuel cell electric vehicles. This article introduces a concept of plug-in fuel cell electric vehicle which combines the advantages of the two, optimized for use in the Czech Republic. The assessment is driven by the criteria of powertrain component dimensioning, non-exhaust emissions and operational economy. The total weight of the powertrain and the derived emission footprint of the concept vehicle is calculated based on state-of-the-art battery, fuel cell and hydrogen storage technologies. The concept is then compared to other alternative powertrains in terms of the operational economy, based on energy and fuel costs in the Czech Republic in May 2023. We demonstrate that the plug-in fuel cell electric vehicle can cover the overwhelming majority of driving routes of Czech drivers using the highly efficient battery electric propulsion, while the rest can be serviced using the fast-refuelling fuel cell electric powertrain. In addition, the concept vehicle can be significantly lighter than an equivalent battery electric vehicle, which leads to a considerable reduction of non-exhaust emissions. As far as the operational economy is concerned, we determine that the operating costs of the concept vehicle are equal to those of the battery electric vehicle for shorter routes and lower than those of the fuel cell vehicle for longer routes. We therefore conclude that the plug-in fuel cell electric vehicle can be a viable alternative to the current clean transport technologies as it combines the benefits of the two most popular fossil-free alternative transport powertrains in the Czech Republic while striking a good balance between energy efficiency, non-exhaust emission reduction, driver convenience and operating costs.

Keywords

• hydrogen mobility
• alternative powertrain
• vehicle weight
• non-exhaust emissions
• operational economy