Design and Development of the Texas Tech Fuel Cell Powered FutureTruck

Texas Tech University's FutureTruck team has converted a stock 2002 Ford Explorer™ to a fuel cell powered hybrid-electric vehicle to enter into the 2002 FutureTruck Challenge. The internal combustion engine was replaced with a Honeywell manufactured hydrogen fuel cell. The fuel cell requires hydrogen, oxygen, and de-ionized (DI) water systems to produce power. Two AC induction motors drive the vehicle and there are two 270VDC nickel metal hydride (NiMH) battery packs to store energy. Water, heat, air and small amounts of hydrogen are the only emissions of the vehicle, which is the main benefit of the conversion. The team also sought to maintain, as much as possible, the comforts and performance options a driver would enjoy on a stock vehicle.