Final Results from U.S. FCEV Learning Demonstration

The “Controlled Hydrogen Fleet and Infrastructure Demonstration and Validation Project,” also known as the National Fuel Cell Electric Vehicle Learning Demonstration, is a U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) project started in 2004 and concluded in late 2011. The purpose of this project was to conduct an integrated field validation that simultaneously examined the performance of fuel cell vehicles and the supporting hydrogen fueling infrastructure. The DOE’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) received and analyzed all of the raw technical data collected by the industry partners through their participation in the project over its seven-year duration. This paper reviews highlights from the project and draws conclusions about the demonstrated status of the fuel cell vehicle and hydrogen fueling infrastructure technology. Through September 2011, 183 fuel cell electric vehicles were deployed, 25 project fueling stations were placed in use, and no fundamental safety issues were identified. We have analyzed data from more than 500,000 individual vehicle trips covering 3.5 million miles traveled and more than 150,000 kg hydrogen produced or dispensed. Public analytical results from this project are in the form of composite data products (CDPs), which aggregate individual performance to protect the intellectual property and the identity of each company while still publishing overall status and progress. Ninety-nine of these CDPs have been generated for public use and posted on NREL’s technology validation website. The results indicate that fuel cell vehicle technology continues to make rapid progress toward commercial readiness and that the fueling infrastructure technology is ready to provide a consumer-friendly fast fill and long range experience consistent with expectations of gasoline vehicle customers.