Realistic simulation of fuel economy and life cycle metrics for hydrogen fuel cell vehicles

Abstract

The present work contributes an engineered life cycle assessment (LCA) of hydrogen fuel cell passenger vehicles based on a real-world driving cycle for semi-urban driving conditions. A new customized LCA tool is developed for the comparison of conventional gasoline and hydrogen fuel cell vehicles (FCVs), which utilizes a dynamic vehicle simulation approach to calculate realistic, fundamental science based fuel economy data from actual drive cycles, vehicle specifications, road grade, engine performance, fuel cell degradation effects, and regenerative braking. The total greenhouse gas (GHG) emission and life cycle cost of the vehicles are compared for the case of hydrogen production by electrolysis in British Columbia, Canada. A 72% reduction in total GHG emission is obtained for switching from gasoline vehicles to FCVs. While fuel cell performance degradation causes 7% and 3% increases in lifetime fuel consumption and GHG emission, respectively, regenerative braking improves the fuel economy by 23% and reduces the total GHG emission by 10%. The cost assessment results indicate that the current FCV technology is approximately $2,100 more costly than the equivalent gasoline vehicle based on the total lifetime cost including purchase and fuel cost. However, prospective enhancements in fuel cell durability could potentially reduce the FCV lifetime cost below that of gasoline vehicles. Overall, the present results indicate that fuel cell vehicles are becoming both technologically and economically viable compared with incumbent vehicles, and provide a realistic option for deep reductions in emissions from transportation. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.