Environmental Impact and History of Modern Transportation 17

This prototype achieved 29.4 km/L (70 mpg) with maximum speed and accel-
eration performance comparable to conventional vehicles. Volkswagen also
built a prototype, the Chico. The base was a small EV, with a nickel-metal
hydride battery pack and a three-phase induction motor. Asmall two-cylinder
gasoline engine was used to recharge the batteries and provide additional
power for high-speed cruising.
The most significant effort in the development and commercialization of
HEVs was made by Japanese manufacturers. In 1997, Toyota released the
Prius sedan in Japan. Honda also released its Insight and Civic Hybrid.
These vehicles are now available throughout the world. They achieve excel-
lent figures of fuel consumption. Toyota’s Prius and Honda’s Insight vehicles
have historical value in that they are the first hybrid vehicles commercial-
ized in the modern era to respond to the problem of personal vehicle fuel
consumption.

1.8 History of Fuel Cell Vehicles

As early as 1839, Sir William Grove (often referred to as the “Father of the Fuel
Cell”) discovered that it may be possible to generate electricity by reversing
the electrolysis of water. It was not until 1889 that two researchers, Charles
Langer and Ludwig Mond, coined the term “fuel cell” as they were trying to
engineer the first practical fuel cell using air and coal gas. Although further
attempts were made in the early 1900s to develop fuel cells that could convert
coal or carbon into electricity, the advent of IC engine temporarily quashed
any hopes of further development of the fledgling technology.
Francis Bacon developed what was perhaps the first successful fuel cell
device in 1932, with a hydrogen–oxygen cell using alkaline electrolytes and
nickel electrodes—inexpensive alternatives to the catalysts used by Mond
and Langer. Due to a substantial number of technical hurdles, it was not until
1959 that Bacon and company first demonstrated a practical 5-kW fuel cell
system. Harry Karl Ihrig presented his now-famous 20-hp fuel-cell-powered
tractor that same year.
National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) also began build-
ing compact electric generators for use on space missions in the late 1950s.
NASA soon came to fund hundreds of research contracts involving fuel cell
technology. Fuel cells now have a proven role in the space program, after
supplying electricity for several space missions.
In more recent decades, a number of manufacturers—including major
automakers—and various federal agencies have supported ongoing research
into the development of fuel cell technology for use in fuel cell vehicles and
other applications.14 Hydrogen production, storage, and distribution are the
biggest challenges. Truly, fuel-cell-powered vehicles still have a long way to
go to enter the market.
14
Fuel Cells

In recent decades, the application of fuel cells in vehicles has been the focus
of increased attention. In contrast to a chemical battery, the fuel cell generates
electric energy rather than storing it and continues to do so as long as a fuel
supply is maintained. Compared with the battery-powered EVs, the fuel-cell-
powered vehicle has the advantages of a longer driving range without a long
battery charging time. Compared with the ICE vehicles, it has the advantages
of high energy efficiency and much lower emissions due to the direct con-
version of free energy in the fuel into electric energy, without undergoing
combustion.

14.1 Operating Principles of Fuel Cells

A fuel cell is a galvanic cell in which the chemical energy of a fuel is converted
directly into electrical energy by means of electrochemical processes. The fuel
and oxidizing agent are continuously and separately supplied to the two
electrodes of the cell, where they undergo a reaction. Electrolyte is neces-
sary to conduct the ions from one electrode to the other as shown in Figure
14.1. Fuel is supplied to the anode or positive electrode, where electrons are
released from the fuel under catalyst. The electrons, under the potential dif-
ference between these two electrodes, flow through the external circuit to the
cathode electrode or negative electrode, where combining positive ions and
oxygen, reaction products, or exhaust are produced.
The chemical reaction in a fuel cell is similar to that in a chemical battery.
The thermodynamic voltage of a fuel cell is closely associated with the energy
released and the number of electrons transferred in the reaction.1,2 The energy
released by the cell reaction is given by the change in Gibbs free energy, ΔG,
usually expressed in per mole quantities. The change in Gibbs free energy in
a chemical reaction can be expressed as

. .
ΔG = Gi − Gj, (14.1)
Products Reactants

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