Subject: Fuel Cell Vehicles
Topic: Fuel Cell Vehicle Components
Objective: Identify major components of a hydrogen fuel cell vehicle
Task: Given a fuel cell vehicle for inspection, the rescue team shall identify major components of the hydrogen fuel cell system, including fuel cell stack, electric drive motor(s), hydrogen tanks, hydrogen filler port and high-voltage battery.
As responders are becoming more aware of how to handle incidents involving hybrid and electric plug-in vehicles, the frequency of encountering these types of vehicles at crash or fire incidents is increasing.
The next vehicle type that will soon become more numerous is the hydrogen fuel cell vehicle (FCV). This University of Extrication two-part series provides an overview of the major components of an FCV and explains how these components function. An FCV is designed to use onboard compressed hydrogen to create its own electricity that powers the electric drive motor(s) of the vehicle. It is NOT a hybrid.
Here, we take a close look at the major components of the first mass-produced FCV, the Toyota Mirai.
Next month, we’ll look at an actual Mirai vehicle as it is currently available for sale, review its major features, and explain essential fire and rescue operations for an incident involving an FCV.
