UK-headquartered WAE Technologies has revealed its latest hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicle (FCEV) innovation at the Cenex Low Carbon Vehicle Show, which is being held at mobiliity company UTAC’s Millbrook site, in England.
WAE developed an ultrahigh-performance FCEV platform called EVRh to demonstrate the potential of hydrogen-powered powertrain systems and its allowing for end-users to have zero tailpipe emissions.
The launch of EVRh comes one year after the reveal of its fully electric derivative called EVR.
EVRh uses a hydrogen fuel cell system to produce electricity through a chemical reaction between hydrogen and oxygen in a fuel cell stack.
This fuel cell and battery system is located in the middle of the vehicle to optimise the centre of gravity. It has also been made to be a lightweight composite structure.
The EVRh platform’s design flexibility enables manufacturers to create multiple configurations from track-only vehicles, where power-to-weight ratios are maximised to roadgoing models that can be open-roof or fixed-roof style. All-wheel drive and rear-wheel drive layouts are supported through multiple electric motor configurations.
EVRh is capable of discharging 439 kW of power and has 120 kW of charge power, enabling an acceleration from 0 km/h to 100 km/h in less than 2.5 seconds. Its lap time on the 20-km-long Nürburgring track, in north-west Germany, is under 7 minutes and 20 seconds.
The hydrogen is stored in two tanks with a combined volume of 100 litres, enabling a range of 600 km.
The hydrogen hybrid powertrain brings multiple benefits to manufacturers, WAE explains, including an accelerated route to market since the entire engineering and assembly is completed by WAE, which signficantly reduces time and cost from development to market launch.
The company says original-equipment manufacturers and tier-one suppliers have the chance to incorporate new products into the powertrain using EVRh, since the rolling chassis can undergo continuous enhancements by leveraging WAE’s latest motor and battery technologies.
WAE technical director Paul McNamara says WAE has, since its inception in 2010, been dedicated to innovating cutting edge and transformative technologies across a variety of applications and industries.
EVRh, on display at Cenex for the first time, is another key example of WAE’s capabilities in the development of solutions for zero carbon vehicles, enabling FCEV vehicles to be brought to market rapidly and cost-effectively, he adds.