Configuration Analysis and Parameter Matching of

Fuel Cell Electric Vehicle Driving System

Honghui ZHAO Yupeng WANG Xing HUANG
Battery Research department Battery Research department Battery Research department
FAW Group Co., Ltd FAW Group Co., Ltd FAW Group Co., Ltd
Changchun, CHINA Changchun, CHINA Changchun, CHINA
zhaohonghui@faw.com.cn wangyupeng@faw.com.cn huangxing@faw.com.cn

Jing Du Tianwei DING Ziliang ZHAO

Battery Research department Battery Research department Battery Research department
FAW Group Co., Ltd FAW Group Co., Ltd FAW Group Co., Ltd
Changchun, CHINA Changchun, CHINA Changchun, CHINA
dujing1@faw.com.cn dingtianwei@faw.com.cn zhaoziliang@faw.com.cn

Abstract— Fuel cell electric vehicle (FCEV) play as an B-class fuel cell passenger vehicle driving system were
important developing direction for renewable energy vehicles. conducted according to the assembly parameter matching
Driving system configuration design of the fuel cell electric process.
vehicle is one of the core works that needs to be done during
the developing process. In this paper, three types of fuel cell
electric vehicle powertrains, including compensation type,
hybrid type, and full power type, were analyzed. By taking
performance, cost, and portability into account, full power type
is considered as the developing trend for fuel cell electric
vehicles in the future. Meanwhile, the system power demand
analyzing, and parameter matching was proposed. The results
can be used for the verification of the system parameter
rationality and vehicle developing, which can also provide the
design basis for fuel cell electric vehicles.
Keywords—fuel cell vehicle, configuration analysis,
parameter matching Fig. 1 Driving system configuration principle of fuel cell vehicle

I. INTRODUCTION II. DRIVING SYSTEM ANALYSIS OF FUEL CELL VEHICLES

Fuel Cell Electric Vehicle (FCEV) is a new type of
vehicle, which uses the electrical energy that mainly
generated from hydrogen fuel via the fuel cell system (FCS)
to drive the motor. It has similar dynamic properties,
continuous driving range, and low-temperature environment
adaptability compared with internal combustion engine
vehicles, and is one of the most efficient technologies to
solve the problems of the energy shortage and the air
pollution caused by the internal combustion engine vehicles
[1]. With a rather higher energy conversion efficiency and
eco-friendly property, FCEV is considered as the ultimate
trend of the development of clean energy vehicles in the
future [2][3]. Major global automobile companies had
already carried out researches and development of FCEV.
Among them, Toyota, Honda, Hyundai, and Daimler had
launched mass production products, which are expected to
achieve small-batch marketing in 2020 and large-scale
marketing in 2025 [4].
FCEV is electric-electric hybrid based vehicle [5-7]. The
driving system mainly includes fuel cell system, electric
drive system, power battery, and DC/DC converter. Usually,
the fuel cell system is connected to the inverter through
DC/DC to achieve decoupling control between motor and
fuel cell system [8][9], and the power battery is directly
connected to the inverter through the DC/DC output terminal.
The driving system configuration is shown in Fig. 1.
In this paper, three types of fuel cell driving system,
including compensating type, hybrid type, and full power
type, were analyzed from the perspective of performance,
cost, and portability. The parameter matching and design of a
A. Overview of fuel cell vehicle driving system
At present, the driving system configuration of fuel cell
electric vehicles can be divided into three types:
compensation type, hybrid type, and full power type, the
power distribution of each type is shown in table I.
1) Compensation type: Based on battery electric vehicles,
a low-power (5-30 kW) fuel cell system is installed to
provide additional energy supply, similar to the range-
extended electric vehicles. This type uses power battery as
the primary power source to provide the demand power of
the vehicle, which requires an external plug-in to replenish
energy. The power of the fuel cell system meets normal
working condition demands. The configuration principle is
shown in Fig. 2 (a).
2) Hybrid type: The fuel cell system ensures the rated
power demand of the vehicle and power battery plays as an
auxiliary power source, joint with fuel cell to ensure the
acceleration power demand of the vehicle. The energy
replenishes of the power battery can be plug-in or unplugged.
The principle is shown in Fig. 2 (b).
3) Full power type: Positioned for full performance fuel
cell vehicles, which can compete with traditional vehicles.
This type takes fuel cell system as the primary power source
to meet the power demand of the vehicle. It is usually
equipped with a power battery as an auxiliary power source,
which is used to adjust the working point of the fuel cell, and
also plays the role of "energy recovery". The power battery is
usually unplugged. The configuration principle is shown in
Fig. 2 (c).

978-1-7281-4878-6/19/$31.00 ©2019 IEEE 6388

 TABLE I. POWER DISTRIBUTION OF EACH TYPE power type, the dynamic vehicle performance decreased not
Type Battery power Fuel cell power obviously.
Compensation High Low
TABLE II. ACCELERATION TIME OF THREE CONFIGURATIONS
Hybrid Medium Medium
Full power Low High Configuration Compensation Hybrid Full power
0~100 km/h acceleration
time（Normal. 9.8 9.8 9.8
temperature）/s
0~100 km/h acceleration
time（Low SOC or low 50.5 26.4 11.9
temperature）/s
2) Cost
The cost of the fuel cell driving trains varies significantly
due to the parameter discrepancies among fuel cell, power
battery, and hydrogen tank [10]. By using a B-class vehicle
a) Compensation type as an example, the system demands and cost analysis of the
three configurations are shown in Table III. The cost trend of
each assembly is shown in the literature [11].

TABLE III. DRIVING SYSTEM DEMANDS OF THREE CONFIGURATIONS

Assembly power demands Compensation Hybrid Full power

Peak motor power/kW 120
Peak FCS power/ kW 30 60 100
Energy capacity of
35 9 1.5
battery/kWh
Number of hydrogen tanks 1 2 2
b) Hybrid type Driving 2020 11.7k 13.9k 18.3k
system cost/ 2025 8.4k 8.7k 11.3k
$ 2030 5.3k 4k 4.6k

From the cost perspective: in the short term (before 2020),

the compensation type has the best cost, and the full power
type has the highest cost. By 2025, the cost of FCS will
reduce, and the cost of hybrid and compensation types will
be at an equal level. By 2030, when FCS technology is
mature, the cost of the hybrid type is the best, and the full
power type is superior to the compensation type.
c) Full power type 3) Portability
At present, the fuel cell system has a large volume due to
Fig. 2 Fuel cell vehicle driving system configuration classification its low volume power density, which makes it challenging to
be applied to passenger vehicles. With the development of
B. Driving system configuration analysis technologies, the power density of the fuel cell system
This section analyzes the differences among 3 types of increases gradually. Fig. 3 shows the comparison among the
fuel cell driving system configurations from the perspectives fuel cell systems’ volume of the three configurations and the
of performance, cost, and portability. cabin volume of different vehicle classes. It can be seen that
with the power density of the fuel cell system increasing, all
1) Performance three configurations can be installed in the engine room by
Continuous maximum speed: the constant maximum 2025.
speed of the vehicle determines the rated power of the fuel
cell system. In the compensation type, due to the low power
output of the fuel cell system, if the continuous output power
of battery is limited, the maximum continuous speed of the
vehicle will at a low level. While for hybrid and full power
types, the fuel cell systems have higher power output, thus
can ensure the vehicles driving at the maximum speed.
Acceleration time: the driving system of fuel cell vehicles
should be equipped with a powerful battery. The power
battery may have low or limited output power under low
state of charge (SOC) and low-temperature conditions, and
this will influence the dynamic performance of the vehicle.
Table II shows the simulation results of the vehicle
acceleration performance. It can be seen form the table that
Fig. 3 Volume analysis of fuel cell systems in three configurations
the dynamic performance of the vehicle with compensation
and hybrid driving train decreased significantly. For the full

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 Comprehensive considerations of dynamic performance, TABLE V. DYNAMIC PERFORMANCE AND EFFICIENCY OF FCEV

cost, and portability are conducted. In the short term, Category FCEV
compensation type has the advantages in cost and portability, Maximum speed, km/h >160
which also suitable for the rapid development and launch of
Dynamic 0-100km/h acceleration time, s ＜10
products. In the long run, as the technologies mature, the cost performance 0-50km/h acceleration time, s ＜4
of the fuel cell will decrease, and power density will increase,
which makes full power types become more and more Gradeability, % >30
competitive, and lead the development direction of fuel cell Economical
Fuel consumption of NEDC, kg/100km ＜1
efficiency
vehicles.
C. Parameter matching of driving motor
III. DRIVING SYSTEM PARAMETER MATCHING
The demanded motor parameters are peak torque, peak
A. Driving system parameter matching process power, rated power, peak power generation, and the highest
The fuel cell driving system parameter matching process rotation speed. The parameter matching principle is shown in
is developed by referring to the driving system parameter Table VI.
matching process of hybrid electric vehicles [12][13], and the
TABLE VI. MATCHING PRINCIPLE OF DRIVING MOTOR
process is shown in Fig. 4.
Parameters Matching principle
Peak torque Ramp starting capability, starting acceleration
Peak power 0-100km /h acceleration time
Rated power Maximum continuous speed
Peak power generation Braking energy recovery
Speed ratio between maximum speed and
Maximum rotation speed
motor rotation

1) Peak torque:
The peak torque of the motor mainly depends on the
climbing performance and starting acceleration performance.
The motor torque required to meet 30% gradeability is
271Nm, as shown in Fig. 5.

Fig. 4 Fuel cell driving system parameter matching process

B. Vehicle parameters and target performance

Based on a specific B-class passenger vehicle, the vehicle
parameters are shown in Table IV. Fig. 5 Motor torque demand of slope

TABLE IV. BASIC PARAMETERS OF THE VEHICLE Besides, when the motor output power reaches a
particular limitation, which is hard to increase, an
Category Name Value Unit
appropriate increase of motor torque can improve the starting
Curb weight 1800 kg acceleration capacity of the vehicle, and then improve the
Max total weight 2250 kg dynamic vehicle performance.
Dynamic performance grade: a full load
kg Refer to the starting acceleration conditions among the
calculation weight rest: half load
Economic calculation U.S, China, Europe and Japan (China driving modes
Vehicle Load 100 kg including typical working condition, Changchun working
parameter weight
Length/width/ condition, Beijing working condition, Japan driving modes
4935/1840/1463 mm
height include J1015, JC08, U.S. driving modes include US06,
Wheelbase 2870 mm FTP75, and SC03, Europe driving mode is NEDC condition),
Windward area 2.297 m2 which are shown in Table VII, the vast majority of the
Drag coefficient 0.302 - vehicle starting acceleration less than 3.5 m/s2, only about 3%
Tire type 215/55 R17 - of the starting acceleration is higher than this value. Fig. 6
Static radius 308 mm shows the starting acceleration of motor torque. To meet the
Tire starting demands for urban working conditions, the
parameters Rolling radius 324 mm
Rolling resistance demanded motor torque is 293Nm. Considering the weight
0.008 - increase and other uncertain factors that will increase the
coefficient
torque demand of the whole vehicle, a certain amount of
The performance demands of fuel cell vehicles are shown allowance is reserved, and the peak torque of the motor is
in Table V. preliminarily determined to be 300Nm.

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 TABLE VII. STATISTICS OF STARTING ACCELERATION UNDER MAIN
WORKING CONDITIONS

Region Starting acceleration Probability

3.78～3.5(m/s^2) 3.1%
Statistics of starting
acceleration under 3.5～3(m/s^2) 3.1%
main working 3～2.5(m/s^2) 4.6%
conditions in China, 2.5～2(m/s^2) 7.7%
Japan, U.S., and 12.3%
2～1.5(m/s^2)
Europe
＜1.5(m/s^2) 69.2%

Fig. 9 Vehicle speed of motor power demand

4) Peak power generation:
The braking energy should be recovered as much as
possible in the driving process to improve the energy
economy of the vehicle. Therefore, the motor braking power
should meet the vehicle braking power demand as much as
possible. As shown in Fig. 10, when the motor breaking
power reaches 30 kW, it can meet 90% of the braking power
demand in most working conditions.
Fig. 6 Starting acceleration of motor torque
2) Peak power:
The peak power of the motor mainly meets the demand
of 0~100km/h acceleration. Fig. 7 and Fig. 8 show the
acceleration time of the vehicle with a general consideration
of the motor's peak power and peak torque. As can be seen
from the figure, the peak power of the motor is
120kW@300Nm, which can meet the acceleration demands
of the vehicle.

Fig. 10 Motor braking power demand under typical working conditions

5) Maximum rotation speed:

Fig. 7 0-50km/h acceleration time of motor power demand
The maximum rotation speed of the driving motor is
determined by the maximum speed of the vehicle, as shown
in Fig. 11. The speed ratio of the reducer assembly used in
this vehicle is 8.194. When a vehicle travels at 160 km/h, the
rotation speed demand is 10750 RPM. Therefore, the
maximum rotation speed of the motor is set to be 11000
RPM.

Fig. 8 0-100km/h acceleration time of motor power demand

3) Rated power:
The rated power of the motor meets the power demand
of the vehicle to maintenance at the maximum speed. The
maximum speed of the vehicle is set to be 160 km/h. As can
be seen from Fig. 9, the power demand of the motor is 53kW.
Fig. 11 Relationship between vehicle speed and motor rotation speed
D. Fuel cell system parameter matching
Full-power fuel cell vehicles use fuel cell systems as the
primary power source to ensure the vehicles’ dynamic
performance. In particular, when power battery output
capacity is limited under low-temperature, and low SOC
conditions, the fuel cell system provides the driving power to
ensure that the vehicle's performance will not decline

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significantly [14][15]. The matching of rated power and peak
power are mainly considered parameters in the fuel cell
system.
1) Rated power:
The rated power of the fuel cell should meet the power
demand of the vehicle at maximum speed, as shown in Fig.
12. The power of the fuel cell system output power that
meets 160 km/h continuous running is 60 kW.
efficiency; Pfcs is the peak power of the fuel cell, ηDC/DC is the
efficiency of DC/DC [18].
Due to the fuel cell power response delay, compressor air
supply delay and other factors, the fuel cell system is unable
to respond to the vehicle's high-power dynamic load in real
time. As shown in Table VIII, the power battery will
compensate for the unresponded part of the fuel cell system.
This phenomenon generally occurs under starting
acceleration, overtaking acceleration, and other working
conditions. This paper takes 0-100km/h acceleration as an
example to analyze the peak power demand of power battery,
which can cover the most power demand under other
working conditions.

TABLE VIII. THE POWER DEMAND OF BATTERY UNDER FCS DYNAMIC

RESPONSE

FCS power variation The power demand FCS maximum power

rate, kW/s of battery, kW response time, s
5 112 20
Fig. 12 FCS rated power of maximum vehicle speed 10 87 10
2) Peak power: 15 62 20/3
The peak power of the fuel cell system ensures the 20 37 5
vehicle's dynamic performance. During the whole vehicle As shown in Table IX, under NEDC and WLTC
acceleration process, the output power is dominated by the conditions, the power demand and dynamic change rate of
fuel cell system, and the power battery provides an auxiliary the vehicle are at a low level. Considering the life of the fuel
power supply [16]. If the power output of the power battery cell system, the maximum power change rate of the fuel cell
is limited, the fuel cell system will provide the energy system is temporarily set to be 20kW/s, and the power of the
separately, the acceleration time of the vehicle and the peak power battery is 40kW.
power of the fuel cell system are shown in Fig. 13. To ensure
the vehicle's 0-100km/h dynamic performance within 12s, TABLE IX. POWER DEMAND UNDER TYPICAL WORKING CONDITIONS
the fuel cell system’s peak power demand is nearly 100kW. Working Maximum power rate
If the power battery works well, the total power output will Power demand of motor, kW
condition of change, kW/s
increase, and the vehicle acceleration time can be improved. NEDC 50 5
WLTP 63 10
2) Peak charging power:
The peak charging capability of the power battery
depends on the generator power demand of the motor when
braking. According to (2), the peak charging power of the
power battery is calculated to be 27kW.

Fig. 13 FCS peak power of acceleration time
E. Power battery parameter matching
Power battery plays a role of "peak load contributing and
energy refilling" in the whole driving process: as an auxiliary
power source, it provides supplemental power to ensure the
vehicle's dynamic performance. As an energy capacity, when
the vehicle is braking, it is used to store the energy recovered
by the motor. During the cold start of the vehicle, and it
provides the start energy to system accessories [17].
1) Peak discharge power:
Under extreme working conditions, both fuel cell system
and power battery provide the power that the vehicle
demands. The power of power battery is calculated
according to (1):.
= − ∗ 
_ /
Where Pbat_discharge is the peak discharge power of the
battery; Pmot is the peak power of the motor, ηmot is the motor
_ = _ ∗ 
Where Pbat_charge is the peak charging power of the
battery; Pmot_charge is the peak generating power of the motor;
ηmot is the motor efficiency.
3) Energy demand:
Power battery energy demand mainly meets the
following two needs:
 Power battery energy demand under typical working
conditions: the power battery plays a role of "peak
load contributing and energy refilling", and its
available energy should ensure the power demand in
the whole vehicle running process. As shown in
Table X, the required available energy of the power
battery is 0.4-0.6kWh. Considering the SOC range
(40%-80%), the total energy demand of the power
battery is 1.5kWh.
 When the vehicle requires acceleration, the power
battery should have enough energy to accelerate the
vehicle; When the vehicle brakes, the power battery
should have enough capacity to recover braking
energy. The calculation shows that the energy
demand of the power battery is 0.28kWh when the

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 vehicle accelerates from the starting point to the parameter matching are shown in this paper; those
maximum speed of 160km/h. The recoverable could be highly instructive for further study.
energy is 0.22kWh when the vehicle glide from the
maximum speed of 160km/h to stop. Considering the (3) According to AVL Cruise simulation results, the
battery SOC range (40-80%), the total energy simulated vehicle performance has a high unity with the
demand for power battery is 1.24kWh. original design index. This shows the accuracy of this
study, and can provide the design basis for the
TABLE X. BATTERY ENERGY UNDER TYPICAL CYCLE CONDITIONS
development of the vehicles.
Battery energy change Required battery REFERENCE
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