Current Status and Future Outlook of Fuel Cell Vehicle Development in TOYOTA

摘要

Fuel Cell Vehicle (FCV) can be one of the solutions to energy issues and climate change. FCV has both environmentally-friendly and user-friendly features such as cruising range of more than 500km, cold startability and about 3 minutes' refueling time. In December 2014, Toyota started selling the FCV called "MIRAI" in Japan. The FC system is composed of Toyota-self-developed components like FC stack, FC boost converter and high pressure hydrogen tanks. The FC stack achieves the maximum output of 114 kW and the volume power density of 3.1 kW/L. Moreover, the FC stack doesn't require any external humidifier. The FC boost converter can boost the power generated in the FC stack to 650 volts. The high pressure hydrogen tanks with three layers including the carbon fiber-reinforced plastic layer can store hydrogen at the very high working pressure of 70 MPa to achieve the storage density of 5.7 wt%.