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Hydrogen Fuel Cell Road Vehicles: State of the Art and Perspectives

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  • Olivier Bethoux

    (GeePs, Group of Electrical Engineering—Paris, UMR CNRS 8507, CentraleSupélec, Univ. Paris-Sud, Univ. Paris-Saclay, Sorbonne Université, 3 rue Joliot-Curie, 91192 Gif-sur-Yvette, France)

Abstract

Driven by a small number of niche markets and several decades of application research, fuel cell systems (FCS) are gradually reaching maturity, to the point where many players are questioning the interest and intensity of its deployment in the transport sector in general. This article aims to shed light on this debate from the road transport perspective. It focuses on the description of the fuel cell vehicle (FCV) in order to understand its assets, limitations and current paths of progress. These vehicles are basically hybrid systems combining a fuel cell and a lithium-ion battery, and different architectures are emerging among manufacturers, who adopt very different levels of hybridization. The main opportunity of Fuel Cell Vehicles is clearly their design versatility based on the decoupling of the choice of the number of Fuel Cell modules and hydrogen tanks. This enables manufacturers to meet various specifications using standard products. Upcoming developments will be in line with the crucial advantage of Fuel Cell Vehicles: intensive use in terms of driving range and load capacity. Over the next few decades, long-distance heavy-duty vehicles and fleets of taxis or delivery vehicles will develop based on range extender or mild hybrid architectures and enable the hydrogen sector to mature the technology from niche markets to a large-scale market.

Suggested Citation

  • Olivier Bethoux, 2020. "Hydrogen Fuel Cell Road Vehicles: State of the Art and Perspectives," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(21), pages 1-28, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jeners:v:13:y:2020:i:21:p:5843-:d:442135
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    7. Uwe Reimer & Ekaterina Nikitsina & Holger Janßen & Martin Müller & Dieter Froning & Steven B. Beale & Werner Lehnert, 2021. "Design and Modeling of Metallic Bipolar Plates for a Fuel Cell Range Extender," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(17), pages 1-26, September.
    8. Dorota Burchart & Iga Przytuła, 2025. "Review of Environmental Life Cycle Assessment for Fuel Cell Electric Vehicles in Road Transport," Energies, MDPI, vol. 18(5), pages 1-28, March.
    9. Mariano Gallo & Mario Marinelli, 2022. "The Impact of Fuel Cell Electric Freight Vehicles on Fuel Consumption and CO 2 Emissions: The Case of Italy," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(20), pages 1-17, October.
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    12. Xu, Hao & Chen, Feng & Cheng, Jinping & Bai, Yucai & Zhao, Shuqing & Wu, Yiheng & Lu, Yin, 2025. "Hydrogen powered heavy-duty trucks may contribute CO2 emission increase instead of reduction under current hydrogen production structure in China," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 315(C).
    13. Halder, Pobitra & Babaie, Meisam & Salek, Farhad & Shah, Kalpit & Stevanovic, Svetlana & Bodisco, Timothy A. & Zare, Ali, 2024. "Performance, emissions and economic analyses of hydrogen fuel cell vehicles," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 199(C).
    14. Sara Luciani & Andrea Tonoli, 2022. "Control Strategy Assessment for Improving PEM Fuel Cell System Efficiency in Fuel Cell Hybrid Vehicles," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(6), pages 1-17, March.
    15. Pastor, Jose V. & García-Oliver, Jose M. & Micó, Carlos & Tejada, Francisco J., 2023. "Characterization of the oxymethylene ether fuels flame structure for ECN Spray A and Spray D nozzles," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 332(C).
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    17. Gianmarco Gottardo & Andrea Basso Peressut & Silvia Colnago & Saverio Latorrata & Luigi Piegari & Giovanni Dotelli, 2023. "LCA of a Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell Electric Vehicle Considering Different Power System Architectures," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(19), pages 1-19, September.

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