India’s first-ever hydrogen fuel cell prototype car successfully completed its trial run on Sunday which was conducted by the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) and KPIT Technologies.
It is a battery-electric passenger car platform and runs on an indigenously developed fuel cell stack.
This technology runs based on the chemical reactions that take place between hydrogen and oxygen to generate electrical energy and could potentially eliminate fossil fuels. It is also a clean fuel because it doesn’t emit harmful greenhouse gases. It only lets out water as a by-product.
The fuel cell is a low-temperature PEM (Proton Exchange Membrane) type that operates at 65-75 degrees Celsius, which is suitable for vehicular applications. CSIR and KPIT have developed a 10 kW-e (Kilowatt-electric) automotive grade LT-PEMFC (low-temperature PEM fuel cell) stack based on CSIR’s know-how. The heart of the PEM fuel cell technology includes the membrane electrode assembly, which is wholly a CSIR know-how.
“KPIT brought in their expertise in stack engineering which included light-weight metal bipolar plate and gasket design, development of the balance of plant (BoP), system integration, control software and electric powertrain that enabled running the fuel cell vehicle. The fuel cell stack uses extremely thin metal bipolar plates, thus reducing the stack weight by about two-thirds,” a statement released by the CSIR said.