Recent Advances in the Development of Hyundai · Kia's Fuel Cell Electric Vehicles

Abstract

Wide attention to fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs) comes from two huge issues currently the world is facing with: the concern of the petroleum reserves depletion due to consequent oil dependence and the earth global warming due in some extent to vehicle emissions. In this background, Hyundai, along with its sister company Kia, has been building the FCEVs and operating their test fleet with several tens of units at home and abroad. Since 2004, 32 passenger vehicles have been offered for the Department of Energy's controlled hydrogen fleet and infrastructure demonstration and validation project in the U.S. In the mean time, from 2006, 30 passenger vehicles as well as four buses, featuring the in-house developed fuel cell stack and its associated components, are currently under the domestic operation for the FCEV learning demonstration led by the Ministry of Knowledge and Economy. Based on such opportunities for developing and demonstrating FCEVs, a great deal of technical progress has been made in many fields, resulting in the performance comparable to the conventional vehicles. The Hyundai Tucson FCEV is powered by the in-house developed 100 kW-fuel cell stack, offering a ultra-high fuel economy of 72 mpg city and a rapid cold-start and drive capability taking on the order of ten seconds at sub-zero temperatures as low as −20°C. Meanwhile, the Kia Borrego FCEV is equipped with the outsized 115 kW-fuel cell stack fueled with the hydrogen compressed at 700 bar, giving a practical range of over 450 miles which has been demonstrated by the single-fueling cruising from San Francisco to Los Angeles in California by virtue of a best-inclass system efficiency of 62 percent and an onboard hydrogen storage of 7.9 kg. This paper updates the recent advances in the Hyundai·Kia's FCEV research and development, especially focusing on the advance of the vehicle performances: cruising range and cold start and drive capability.

Graded Microporous Layers for Enhanced Capillary‐Driven Liquid Water Removal in Polymer Electrolyte Membrane Fuel Cells

“…combustion engine with the PEM fuel cell and extracting hydrogen from natural gas when accounting for the higher energy efficiencies of fuel cells (60% [7] compared to 20-30% for internal combustion engines). Furthermore, an 85% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions could be realized if hydrogen is obtained via water electrolysis powered by renewable energy sources, such as wind and solar.…”

“…The reference image was an average of five frames taken at the end of 5 min of open circuit voltage operation at the start of each experiment (in the absence of liquid water generation). The normalized liquid water thickness for each pixel, t w,n (x, y, t) [cm (cm GDL ) − (7) where µ w [cm −1 ] is the linear attenuation coefficient for liquid water (calibrated as described by Ge et al [72] ), L z [cm] is the length of the GDL along the beam path (L z = 0.80 cm), I wet (x, y, t) and I ref (x, y) are the corrected transmitted irradiance of the test sample and reference sample, respectively. The volume fraction of liquid water within the GDL region is denoted by t w,n (x, y, t).…”

Electronic brake safety index for evaluating fail-safe control of brake-by-wire systems for improvement in the straight braking stability

“…Limited resources and environmental problems have led to increasing interest in eco-friendly vehicles such as hybrid electric vehicles, fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs) and pure electric vehicles. 1,2 Regenerative braking, which generates electric energy and saves it in a battery in braking situations, enhances the energy efficiency of eco-friendly vehicles. 3 For cooperating with fast regenerative braking systems, brake-by-wire (BBW) systems such as the electronic wedge brake (EWB) and the electromechanical brake (EMB) could be reasonable substitutes for the current slow hydraulic brake systems, because of their fast and accurate response.…”

Recent Progress on the Key Materials and Components for Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells in Vehicle Applications

“…Although current non-PGM catalysts The 3M nanostructured thin film (NSTF) catalyst is currently the sole practical example of an extended surface area catalyst shown to effectively address several critical issues facing cathode and anode catalysts for fuel cell vehicles, including the performance, cost, and durability [67]. The NSTF Pt 68 Co 29 Mn 3 catalyst has been the workhorse cathode and anode of choice for a number of years and its CCM [68,69] generated a specific activity of 2.93 mA/cm 2 Pt and a mass activity of 0.18 A/mg Pt at 0.9 V vs. RHE. This specific activity is around twelve times higher, and the mass activity about two times higher, than those of a TKK 47 wt % Pt/C device.…”

“…Through continuous global research and development (R&D) over the past decade, the important operational factors of PEMFCs, such as energy efficiency, volumetric and mass power density, and low temperature start ability, have been greatly improved. The industrialization of fuel cell vehicles is currently in progress, and some notable milestones are worth mentioning: (1) the fuel cell engine produced by Hyundai-Kia exhibited 60% energy efficiency (specific value of DC output power and Lower Heat Value (LHV) hydrogen energy) under 25% rated power [2]; (2) significantly increased PEMFC module power density was reported [3], for example, a 3.1 kW/L power density was achieved by a Japanese Toyota Sedan Vehicle fuel cell and an English Intelligent Energy EC200-192 module exhibited 5 kW/L power density; (3) 2 kW/kg specific power was achieved in Nissan using a 2011-model PEMFC module [4]; and (4) automotive fuel cells made by Toyota and Honda achieved cold starts at −37 °C and −30 °C, respectively [5]. In 2014, the Toyota MIRAI fuel cell vehicle was introduced onto the market, with a fuel cell peak power of 114 kW and a driving range of 500 km.…”