“Even though battery electric vehicles are currently being treated as the alternative to the classic internal combustion engine in public debate, fuel cell drive offers many advantages,” says Professor Stefan Pischinger, President & CEO of FEV Group GmbH, adding: “On the one hand, such a vehicle collides no pollutants and keeps the air in the cities clean, also takes the fueling with hydrogen only a few minutes and delivers ranges of up to 700 kilometers. ”
This makes this drive especially for the transport of goods by commercial vehicles and in rail transport to an interesting option, as this long distances are covered. When driving comfort need to be made in the fuel cell drive also no drawbacks. Driving behavior, acceleration and acoustics correspond to the battery electric vehicles. However, the high acquisition and operating costs of the vehicles as well as the small number of hydrogen refueling points prevented the market penetration so far.
For more than twenty years, FEV has been working on solutions that make fuel cells more efficient and practical as a drive alternative. On special test benches, the company examines and optimizes fuel cell systems with outputs of up to 200 kW worldwide. Also environmental tests on system and vehicle level are possible.
In numerous development projects for the design of fuel cell systems, vehicle benchmarks and cost analyzes, FEV is working on harnessing this drive technology for a wide range of target applications. With the project BREEZE! FEV was able to show in 2015, using a demonstrator vehicle, that a fuel cell can be used effectively even in small vehicle types such as the Fiat 500.
With the recently opened hydrogen refueling station in Aachen, the infrastructure in the metropolitan region of Rhineland will be strengthened. By the end of the year, the infrastructure in Germany will be expanded to a total of 100 hydrogen refueling stations.
About FEV
The FEV Group, headquartered in Aachen, Germany, is an internationally recognized service provider in vehicle development. The competence spectrum of FEV includes consulting, development and testing of innovative vehicle concepts up to series maturity. In addition to engine and transmission development, vehicle integration, calibration and homologation of modern gasoline and diesel engines, the development of hybrid and electrified drive systems as well as alternative fuels is becoming more and more important. Here, the further development of electronic control systems as well as the advancing networking and automation of vehicles are the focus of the experts.
The product portfolio of “FEV Software and Testing Solutions” completes this offer by the production of modern test bench equipment and measuring technology as well as software solutions, which contribute to a more efficient development and move significant work steps from the road to the test bench or even into the simulation
As a global service provider, the company offers its customers from the transport industry these services worldwide. The FEV Group employs more than 6,200 highly qualified specialists in modern, customer-oriented development centers in more than 40 locations on four continents.
