ZBT develops a compact 30 kW fuel cell range extender module for battery electric vehicles in cooperation with the project partners Gräbener Maschinentechnik, FEV and VKA. With the fuel cell range extender module, highly efficient long-distance emobility with short refueling times can be realized.

Together with Gräbener Maschinentechnik, ZBT is responsible for the development of the compact, liquid cooled automotive stack featuring metallic bipolar plates. High power densities of up to 1 W/cm² and successful durability testing could be demonstrated on ZBT’s testbenches. A combination of CFD-simulation and rapid-prototyping validation measurements enabled a significant reduction of development time and cost for the optimized flowfield design.

System operation and vehicle integration of the BREEZE fuel cell range extender module is scheduled for 2014.

• Development and characterization of metallic bipolar plates
• Stacks for automotive Applications
• Target: fuel cell vehicles

The work is being performed within the project “BREEZE: Brennstoffzellen Range Extender Elektrofahrzeug: Zero Emissions”. The project EM/1020B (6/2011-6/2014) is funded by the Ministry of Finance, Energy and Infrastructure of the state of North Rhine-Westfalia and the European Fund for Regional Development of the European Union within the program “Ziel2.NRW Regionale Wettbewerbsfähigkeit und Beschäftigung”