Testing Methodology to Calculate the Fuel Economy in Km/Kg of Hydrogen Fuel Cell Electric Vehicle (FCEV) based on Current (Ampere) Method and Flow Method

The globe is looking headlong to set up new benchmarks for the reduction of GHG (Green House Gases) considering short-term and long-term strategies. Efforts in the Internal Combustion Engines (ICE) domain have been accelerating to find an alternative way to reduce harmful emissions. Hydrogen is considered as a promising fuel to leapfrog this transition. Hydrogen fuel can be categorized into vast mobility areas viz. ICE and Fuel Cell Electric Vehicle (FCEV). Hydrogen fuel has attracted global attention from engine researchers due to the crude oil crisis and its rise in prices in recent years. This will serve the nation's goal towards carbon neutrality. Hydrogen has a few advantages such as less fueling time, higher heating value and more efficiency making it an eye-touching fuel for the automotive industry. In the contemporary FCEV segment, many fuel cell technologies have evolved, wherein the development of Proton Exchange Membrane (PEM) fuel cell technology has taken a new height for heavy-duty commercial vehicle applications due to its significant interest in the non-existent tailpipe CO2 emissions. Since electric vehicles are also being combined with hydrogen fuel and the opportunity persists to convert it into a hybrid system or FCEV. There is always a keen curiosity of the end user to know the mileage of a vehicle as a distinguishing measure of fuel economy. Thus, it is pertinent to determine the hydrogen fuel economy of the FCEV vehicle. This paper provides an insight into fuel cell fundamentals, the working principle of hydrogen fuel cell vehicles, vehicle operation modes and testing methodology to determine the fuel economy of FCEV based on the electric current method and pressure method. The vehicle (e-Bus) has been validated on a chassis dynamometer based on the prescribed DBDC Cycle in the AIS 049 standard to calculate the hydrogen fuel economy of the FCEV Bus. The multiple stacks of PEM fuel cells connected in series has been used along with the electric powertrain vehicle and estimation of its fuel economy are the focus of this paper. Keywords: Hydrogen, FCEV, Fuel Economy, Carbon Neutral, GHG, PEM