Simulation of a High-Performance Fuel Cell Vehicle with GT-SUITE

The automotive sector, including the world of high performance cars, is moving towards the goal of decarbonisation, and to achieve this, new types of powertrain are being researched and developed, including fuel cell vehicles. The initial objective of the thesis is to model a battery electric vehicle (BEV) using the GT-SUITE software. The model is based on a prototype designed and built by the host company, whose experimental data are used to validate the results obtained in GT-SUITE. Next, attention is paid to the calibration of the fuel cell and the integration of the fuel cell system (FCS) into the basic BEV model. Focus is given to the cooling system, whose heat exchangers are first dimensioned and then inserted into the model after calibrating their templates in GT-SUITE. Once the model is obtained, the target is to evaluate the vehicle's performance in terms of range in different driving cycles, both homologation and race track, considering different strategies and conditions. The results obtained show the heaviness introduced in the cooling system. Indeed, when switching from BEV to fuel cell electric vehicle (FCEV) configuration, the summation of radiator and intercooler areas more than doubled. Moreover, the sizing of the system, as initially conceived, results to be not completely optimal. The strict weight target set for the system leads to a reduced battery and hydrogen tank capacity, limiting the vehicle's overall range. As a result, the current system does not achieve a range comparable to that of a battery electric vehicle (BEV). Finally, the importance of adopting a proper energy management strategy to maximize system efficiency is highlighted.