Tell us about Intelligent Energy?
Intelligent Energy is focused on the development and manufacture of lightweight hydrogen fuel cell products ranging from 800W to 300kW+ for customers in the automotive, aerospace, generator, telecoms, materials handling and unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) sectors.
We are headquartered in Loughborough, with additional offices in the US, Japan, China and South Korea.
Describe your HD100 product?
IE-DRIVE HD100 has been developed by Intelligent Energy as a complete fuel cell system to provide up to 100kW of continuous power. It has been designed to be certified for road use, ideal for integration into buses or trucks, as well as other motive applications such as large material handling (MHE), off-highway vehicles, construction, rail and marine.
The hydrogen fuel-cell for buses, trucks and stationary power is compact and simple to integrate. The main fuel cell module contains the fuel cell stack and most of the balance of plant, with a series of connections designed that follow the StaSHH standard. Intelligent Energy also supplies the heat exchanger and exhaust system to reduce the time and effort required to install the hydrogen fuel cells for buses and trucks.
What about the ICEBreaker project which Intelligent Energy is involved in?
Project ICEBreaker is a collaboration that began in October last year which focuses on the integration of developing technologies to deliver a working proof of concept hydrogen fuel cell HGV to be available to manufacturers and operators in late 2024.
With funding from the Advanced Propulsion Centre, partners in the project – our company, Viritech, and Horiba Mira will bring together our technology and expertise to develop a lighter, more efficient hydrogen fuel cell HGV truck with lower cost of ownership.
The principle of using the fuel cell as the prime mover in the driveline is supported by our company’s latest generation of specialist fuel cells for heavy duty applications.
Viritech brings its proprietary energy management hardware and software, optimised for fuel cell as prime mover, to target mass parity with HGV diesel powertrains to the project.
Engineering consultant Horiba Mira is delivering the truck’s thermal systems modelling and engineering, systems integration and vehicle optimisation as well as validation and certification to the project.
Are hydrogen HGVs the future for operators?
By re-engineering the way Fuel Cell Electric Vehicle (FCEV) powertrains work, the ICEBreaker project aims to optimise the architecture of the hydrogen powertrain for the specific use case of an HGV.
This will deliver a next-generation hydrogen HGV truck that delivers mass parity with diesel at a commercially-viable total cost of ownership for operators.
It will also mean an engineering solution for the challenge of decarbonising the 500,000 HGVs currently in operation on UK roads.
These currently produce a disproportionate 19% of all of the country’s transport emissions – a figure that is forecast to grow as the size of the national fleet increases.
A 44-tonne battery electric truck requires five tonnes of batteries, cutting the payload by up to 20% and costing £40,000 per year in lost revenue. Hydrogen fuel cells present a far more commercially viable alternative.
Andrea Trevisan, Head of Sales, IE-DRIVE, Intelligent Energy
