The next generation of ultra-high-power density fuel cell technology is being developed by mobility technology company AVL in collaboration with Red Bull Advanced Technologies, the high-performance division of Red Bull Racing Group. It is anticipated that the lightweight solutions will be two-thirds lighter than traditional fuel cell systems, opening the door for the high-performance automobile, racing, and aviation industries to achieve net-zero carbon emissions.
This partnership combines Red Bull’s lightweight design, construction, and aerodynamics techniques with AVL’s industry-leading portfolio of PEM fuel cell technology. It is anticipated that this research would provide a fuel cell system with higher performance than any that is now on the market anywhere in the world.
Joint studies show that, with success, significant gains in gravimetric power density may be made, with values approaching 6 kW/kg at the stack level and 2 kW/kg at the fuel cell system level. With the use of this technology, the greatest gravimetric power density PEM fuel cell system in the world may be created.
Achieving the solutions will mark a major advancement in net-zero carbon technological innovation, allowing industries like aerospace, upcoming racing series, and several other maximum payload applications to meet the power density requirements for hydrogen mobility.
Rob Gray, Technical Director, Red Bull Advanced Technologies, said: “We are delighted to be working with AVL on this collaboration to increase fuel cell power density and thus improve performance. It goes to show how beneficial the application of cutting edge F1 inspired engineering can be with solving real-world problems.”
Jürgen Rechberger, Vice-President, AVL, commented: “We are very proud to be working closely with Red Bull. This partnership will combine the knowledge and experience of our experts, allowing us to improve the gravimetric power density of our fuel cell technology by a factor of three and hence meet the requirements of high-performance applications like aviation and racing.”
