Intelligent Energy’s brand-new and patented IE-DRIVE™ system has been designed to give passenger car manufacturers direct access to the smaller, more powerful, turnkey and commercially-viable hydrogen fuel cell solution that is needed to make zero carbon emission mobility a global reality in the passenger car market.
The single stack platform, which is the first of its kind to be designed, manufactured and tested by a British company, recently broke cover during a launch event at Intelligent Energy’s Loughborough headquarters where it powered a Sports Utility Vehicle (SUV) provided by Changan UK.
The specification of the IE-DRIVE™ platform brings significant benefits when compared to other fuel cells that have been developed by large automotive groups and their third party fuel cell suppliers. These are:
- In its current configuration, Intelligent Energy’s DRIVE fuel cell stack is capable of 157kW gross electrical power. This is higher than any other single stack application that is currently available for the passenger car sector.
- Intelligent Energy’s patented direct water injection technology means DRIVE’s heat exchanger is up to 30% smaller than its competitors at equal net power output. The single pass heat exchanger in IE’s test SUV only measures 0.34m² but enables cruising at 130km/h in peak temperatures and a speed of 90km/h to be achieved when travelling up a long, steep hill. Having a small heat exchanger makes vehicle packaging much easier and benefits fuel cell vehicle design, particularly in relation to bonnet height and improved driver visibility.
- Designing its novel direct water injection system has allowed Intelligent Energy to reduce its component count and bill of materials. An example of this is shown by the fact IE’s fuel cell doesn’t require a humidifier and related parts.
- DRIVE is a complete fuel cell system in the shape of a traditional engine and is designed to meet the low bonnet requirements of passenger cars. It includes the fuel cell stack, electronic control unit, heat exchanger and Balance of Plant (BOP).
- Under full-scale, high-volume manufacturing conditions, Intelligent Energy predicts its DRIVE fuel cell system will cost around 100 GBP per kW by the end of the decade, making it less expensive than BEV solutions and comparable to ICE.
