Geneva - Lyon - Barcelona (800km)
In pilot 5, Ford Otosan will virtually demonstrate a long haul fuel cell vehicle. To optimise the e-drivetrain components and evaluate its technology potential the VECTO Long Haul Delivery cycle, a European test cycle to represent HDV mission profile, will be used to represent typical long haul, highway-dominated driving.
Main objectives
The pilot aims to develop and demonstrate a cost-effective, carbon-neutral, zero-emission heavy-duty vehicle (z-HDV) with a modular electric powertrain. This vehicle will have a minimum gross vehicle weight (GVW) of 40 tonnes and a range of over 700 km without refuelling. Key objectives include optimising e-drivetrain components, creating a scalable high-efficiency fuel cell system, and developing a smart predictive energy management algorithm.
Challenge: To address the demanding thermal requirements of the fuel cell system and develop a control strategy that maximises vehicle efficiency for a cost-effective, modular, zero-emission heavy-duty vehicle.
Innovation: Developing a modular and scalable high-efficiency fuel cell system designed specifically for long-haul applications, combined with advanced control algorithms to optimise energy consumption and vehicle performance.
Range: Up to 700 km with Single-Fueling
Vehicle:
The vehicle being developed is a modular, cost-effective, zero-emission heavy-duty truck designed for long-haul applications. It boasts a gross vehicle weight of 44 tonnes and can travel up to 700 km on a single refueling. The vehicle features a dual fuel cell stack, high-capacity batteries, an electric motor, and a brake chopper, supported by up to 80 kg of hydrogen storage at 700 bar. Its drivetrain includes a three-gear transmission and an e-axle, optimising power and efficiency. The design focuses on real-world performance, aiming for a daily range of 500 km while meeting efficiency and hydrogen consumption targets.
Vehicle: The vehicle is a 44 ton, Long Haul Application.
Components: The vehicle’s components include two fuel cell stacks, a high-capacity battery, an electric motor, and a brake chopper.
Energy: The vehicle is powered by two 125 kW Fuel Cell Stacks and two 123 kWh Batteries
Storage: The vehicle is equipped with up to 80 kg H2 storage at 700 bar.
Key Performance Indicators:
Fuel cell systems have approximately 40-60% electrical efficiency depending on the fuel cell type. Fuel cell power should be selected according to high efficiency range of the fuel cell.
Lower H2 consumption is needed to maximize the range. In order to do that vehicle power distribution has high effect on fuel cell efficiency and hydrogen consumption.
The target is to provide a minimum range of 700 km with a single filling.
Route:
The truck, carrying temperature-sensitive goods, will travel on a one-way trip of 800 km from Berlin (Germany) to Trabajo (Spain), with three breaks along the TEN-T corridor in major metropolitan areas: Frankfurt/Basel, Lyon, and Barcelona. Additionally, there will be short interruptions for necessary breaks at the headquarters.
Start: Berlin
Intermediate stop: Frankfurt/Basel, Lyon, Barcelona
Finish: Trabajo
Technical Aspects About This Pilot
Ford will create a model that includes the entire fuel cell system, such as the fuel cell stack and air compressor humidifier. This created model will be combined with the vehicle model and used to demonstrate real driving cycles. After creating a model that determines the cooling requirements of the components, the effect of different layouts will be demonstrated in this model.
The main model will analyse energy and H2 consumption for cycles with the Vecto tool or cycles with velocity-slope graphs. According to the H2 consumption result, the tank capacity to be used in the vehicle will be determined, and the geometry of the fuel line, pressure drop, flow rate analysis will be performed, and the decisions will be assisted in finalizing the model architecture.
The control algorithm will be developed by working on the management of thermal loads of Ford components. In addition, since there are two different power sources in the vehicle, a hybrid control mechanism will be developed to provide energy management. Therefore, control algorithms will aim to minimize energy consumption.