Energy optimization strategies for zero emission heavy duty vehicles

The decarbonization of the commercial transport sector is a crucial part on the pathway to a fully green economy and the use of zero-emission Heavy Duty Vehicles (HDVs) is a major aim. Hydrogen Fuel Cells will probably represent the main technology to provide an alternative future fuel source to replace fossil fuels. This will involve combining fuel cells with batteries in HDVs, exploiting the full potential of these technologies in an economically effective way. To guarantee expected performance from fuel cell-based powertrains, these should be controlled by an appropriate Energy Management System to optimize the performance of the vehicle. This paper illustrates the performance achieved by applying optimal predictive control to the zero-emission Heavy-Duty Vehicles' power management problem.