Fuel cells: A credible alternative to battery electric for HGVs?
Do fuel cells offer a credible alternative to battery electric for heavy goods vehicles? This consortium thinks so. Jon Lawson meets the new ICEBreaker.
With the Hydrogen Innovation Initiative recently earmarking the hydrogen technology market to be worth up to $1 trillion in the next decade, R&D efforts are set to ramp up in this space, and innovations in fuel cells are at the forefront.
Leading by example, Viritech, Horiba MIRA and Intelligent Energy have teamed up to create a fully functional fuel cell prototype heavy goods vehicle, unveiled to the public for the first time at the Cenex Expo at Millbrook, England in September. The ICEBreaker features a 16kWh lithium-ion battery with 400kW charge/discharge capacity consisting of a pair of Intelligent Energy IE-DRIVE HD100 fuel cells operating in parallel to deliver 200kW each.
The whole thing came together in under 12 months. Greg Harris, chief commercial officer at Intelligent Energy explains, “We were already working on our automotive fuel cell when we were approached at the start of the project, so we could work quickly. Right from the beginning we decided to focus on a fuel-cell strong architecture. These two fuel cells provide the majority of the power needed for the vehicle. Because the transient response is so fast, we can do a lot of the acceleration direct from the fuel cells. The battery just gives a bit of a boost and does some regeneration, as the fuel cells can’t do this.”
Heat management is crucial for fuel cells, just as it is for pure EVs. This vehicle features a novel system, differing from the conventional circulating liquid glycol via a radiator. Harris continues, “Even with highly efficient fuel cell systems like these, as much heat as electricity is generated. We chose to use evaporative cooling, which has enabled us to have operational benefits like much smaller radiators. We inject liquid water into the fuel cell which removes the heat by evaporating. This is then recovered in a condenser and solves the humidification issue as we are injecting water all the time. This also helps with the packaging.”
Some water escapes through the exhaust, but as water is a by-product of the cell anyway this is easily replaced.
TWIN TIME
Using its modelling expertise, Horiba MIRA has built a digital twin of the truck in order to see if this method can offer up a more efficient approach to vehicle development. “We didn’t want to use the conventional design, build and test approach. Part of the project consists of creating and validating these tools against the test vehicle,” confirms Harris. Post-project, MIRA will develop novel TCO optimisation solutions that will bring forward the point at which FCEVs reach cost parity with ICE which is useful for potential buyers to take into account.
The vehicle is now at MIRAs proving ground in Nuneaton which not only provides a site for testing but will also allow potential customers to inspect and trial the vehicle. “Looking ahead,” Harris says, “We want to work with customers on fleet trials and also apply what we’ve learned to other sectors.”
This type of fuel cell arrangement may solve some of the problems battery electric vehicles suffer with, such as very heavy batteries and long charge times, but if it is ever to fully compete with internal combustion, the hydrogen fuelling infrastructure must exist. In this case, the ICEBreaker vehicle has a large 700 bar storage tank in order to ensure range. “This is a challenge,” admits Harris. “So far, in the UK at least fuel cell vehicles tend to be operated on a back-to-base principle. In the future, what needs to happen is for the authorities to do what they are doing in the EU, committing to installing a fuelling network by 2030, with stations every 200km or so, which could give hauliers the confidence to invest. We’re still waiting for the UK government to make a similar commitment. That said, there are a couple of interesting projects going on in the UK which will create some hydrogen refuelling capability to support truck trials. These are the HyHaul projects on the M4 motorway with capacity for 30 fuel cell trucks and the ZENFreight project in the north of the UK.”
Another obstacle for widescale hydrogen fuelling adoption to overcome is creating the gas in the first place.
Harris says, “Most of the hydrogen today is grey hydrogen, either made from coal or coming from industrial byproducts, and even that doesn’t meet the demand in the UK or in other parts of the world. And it’s not green, it’s producing CO2. The focus now from both an environmental and cost perspective is to use renewables to create the gas via electrolysis. There are some projects being announced now which have received government support, such as the hydrogen production facility in Bradford. These projects will change the UK landscape by offering green H2 at volume and at a competitive cost.”