Arcola Energy fuel cell powertrain platform is ready for production

This hydrogen fuel platform was developed for heavy duty vehicles to replace diesel engines.

Arcola Energy has announced the development of a proprietary hydrogen fuel cell powertrain platform that it is ready for production. The UK company created it for high-duty cycle capability applications that require rapid refueling.

The A-Drive Arcola Energy platform offers a zero-emission alternative to diesel-based platforms.

Furthermore, the A-Drive hydrogen fuel cell powertrain platform is powerful enough to act as a greenhouse gas emission-free alternative for heavy duty vehicles. This includes entire fleets, trucks, public transportation applications such as trains and buses, and municipal operations. According to Arcola, this new platform is the foundation for a spectrum of different vehicles it has in the works and that will be market-ready next year.

Heavy-duty vehicles are responsible for over 20 percent of the EU’s road-based CO2 emissions. For this reason, darcarbonizing those vehicles will be central to meeting upcoming targets and complying with approaching legislations regarding greenhouse emissions and transportation strategies.

A hydrogen fuel cell powertrain platform offers greater practicality than pure battery electric solutions.

For vehicles that must travel long distances and pull heavy loads, H2 is a far more viable form of renewable energy to use as fuel. It provides considerably larger payload capabilities and operational range.

“Combining an efficient electric powertrain with the high energy density of hydrogen, Arcola’s HFC A-Drive platform readily delivers twice the practical range of battery-only solutions,” said Arcola Energy CEO Dr. Ben Todd. “This enables fleets to work a full day of heavy-duty service on just one 10-minute hydrogen fill.”

Todd also pointed out that: “The A-Drive platform delivers the integration required to realize these benefits quickly in real world applications.”

The hydrogen fuel cell powertrain platform is the result of a decade of development and testing. It brings together and optimize all the components in the system, including the battery, the fuel cell itself, the H2 storage, the thermal management, power electronics, motor and the breaks. Each of the components can be scaled for any type of vehicle. Furthermore, Arcona says that they can deliver whatever the application’s performance requirements.