Technology Development of Advanced Fuel Cell Drive Systems

摘要

Against the background of a projected increase of worldwide energy demand for transportation together with the increase of greenhouse gases new modified conventional or alternative propulsion systems have to be developed. Due to their high efficiency especially in the part load regime the energy demand for fuel cell systems is lower than the demand for all powertrains which leads to a significant reduction in energy consumption. DaimlerChrysler has already started in the early 1990 's to demonstrate fuel cell vehicles. Since then, an essential progress in fuel cell technology e.g. in power density has been achieved. The remaining technological challenges are the further cost reduction and an improved operation reliability of fuel cell systems. For the commercial application of fuel cell propulsion not only the technological improvements are necessary but also the building up of an hydrogen infrastructure has to take place. This cannot be done by the automotive industry alone and requires a joint effort of political organisations, the energy industry and the automotive industry.