Research

Focus Areas

To meet the stringent fuel-cell durability and efficiency requirements dictated by heavy-duty vehicles (HDVs) Trucks, research efforts will be coordinated and undertaken to cover several key areas:

• Materials discovery and phenomena elucidation
• Materials integration and manufacturing
• Durability protocol development and lifetime prediction
• Analysis of HDV operating parameters, modeling and optimization

Million Mile Fuel Cell Truck (M2FCT) will tackle these challenges through a “team-of-teams” approach featuring main teams in analysis, durability, integration, and materials development. By coming together as sets of dynamic teams, the integrated consortium will provide rapid feedback, idea development, and information exchange, resulting in an effort that is more than the sum of its parts. 

Research Goals

• Goal 1: Develop predictive models for cells and systems and exercise them to define real-world operation and component and assembly targets.
   
• Goal 2: Develop materials that enable high efficiency and durable performance.
   
• Goal 3: Evaluate rationally designed multicomponent membrane electrode assemblies (MEAs) comprised of tailored interfaces and components that exhibit transformational cell-level performance and efficiency.
   
• Goal 4: Realize and interrogate ensembles of materials to elucidate and mitigate degradation.

In meeting the goals, M2FCT will develop new capabilities, provide aid to and interact with industrial developers, advance knowledge of component properties, and develop advanced structures, integration strategies, and evaluation methods.