Vehicles containing and methods for using a pre-heater to reduce emissions, and for warming fuel cells at low ambient temperatures

摘要

A vehicle includes a fuel cell that generates electricity, a pre-heater electrically coupled to the fuel cell, wherein the pre-heater provides an output, and a component configured to receive a portion of the output, wherein a temperature of the component is changed through receipt of the portion of the output. In addition, a method is described for operating a fuel cell in a vehicle that includes: generating electricity from the fuel cell, and providing a portion of the electricity to a pre-heater, which provides an output to a vehicular component, thereby pre-heating the component.