Design of an efficient fuel cell vehicle drivetrain, featuring a novel boost converter

Most automobile manufacturers have invested in the development of fuel cell vehicles. The motivation behind this has been the escalating concerns about energy security, dwindling fossil fuel reserves, and adverse environmental effects of operating internal combustion engine vehicles. The cost of fuel cell vehicles has to be dramatically reduced and many technical problems in hydrogen storage, fuel cell reliability, and power management have to be solved before fuel cell vehicles can be commercially available. In this paper, a design process for developing a highly efficient power management system for a cell-powered small SUV is documented. An analytic approach is used to select the optimal energy storage system for a fuel cell SUV. Also, a novel high-efficiency DC/DC converter for the fuel cell vehicle is introduced. Simulation and experimental results are presented to prove the concept.