Hydrogen fuel cells for cars
The global automotive industry, driven by zero emissions legislation and increasing consumer interest, is rapidly accelerating the development and production of electric vehicles across all classes.
However, many vehicle manufacturers are also developing fuel cell vehicles as an alternative approach, where the hydrogen is stored in tanks on the vehicle and converted on-board into electrical energy. The fuel cell acts like an engine, turning fuel into power, but without creating any harmful emissions, only water in fact!
Our fuel cell technology is particularly suitable for long-range buses and heavy-duty trucks where BEV technology struggles to provide enough range. For passenger vehicles, the fast refueling and lower weight of our fuel cells also help with applications such as large SUVs and taxis where batteries are too slow to recharge and too heavy to be viable.
Why use hydrogen fuel cells for cars?
- More range with less weight – fuel cells are lighter than batteries, so longer range can be provided practically and efficiently.
- Work like an ICE vehicle – fuel cell vehicles have large fuel tanks that refill in minutes at public filling stations, no need to change the way that people use their cars or trucks.
- Sustainability & supply chain – fuel cells are 95% recyclable; batteries have a significant carbon lifecycle footprint and reduced recyclability.
- No electrical charging – reduces the impact on the electrical grid from mass vehicle charging.
Our hydrogen fuel cells for cars
Intelligent Energy have developed two versions of the IE-DRIVE for automotive vehicles, using the same core fuel cell stack technology; IE-DRIVE HD100 is our heavy-duty fuel cell, a one-box design ideal for buses, trucks and stationary power; IE-DRIVE 100 is designed for passenger cars and light commercial vehicles, a modular system providing maximum flexibility for installation.