Performance of gasoline fuel cell cars - a simulation study

This paper reports on the analysis and evaluation of different automobile traction concepts of an electrically powered compact class vehicle equipped with an energy converting fuel cell system. All simulation models of the fuel cell cars are based on an on-board gasoline reformer unit. As fuel cell systems both a solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) and a polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) are compared. For a study of the influence of the energy management concept on system performance, the fuel cell car is eventually equipped with an auxiliary energy buffering battery. A variety of studies are shown concerning the performance and energy consumption of the different systems as well as sensitivity studies for selected system parameters.