Electric toy vehicle powered by a PEMFC stack

The article describes the design and development of an electric toy vehicle powered by a fuel cell stack. The system consisted of a 150 W PEMFC stack powered by hydrogen/air, a tank of metal hydrides of AB (TiFe) alloy type with a capacity of 300 standard litres, for storing hydrogen, and an electronic power device based on electrolytic capacitors, to supply peak power demands during acceleration and start up of the vehicle. The air supply was provided by a fan preceded by a filter, and in a similar manner the stack was cooled by an air ventilation system. An electrovalve was used to supply H 2 in dead-ended mode. All the components were integrated in the vehicle, and the prototype was tested in real working conditions, in a test bench and by children.