Optimal Sizing of a Fuel Cell Electric Vehicle Under a Fuel Cell System Safety-Aware Model

Hybrid system sizing optimization should coordinate static sizing studies against dynamic power distribution in which the safety of energy storage sector should also be considered. However, few existing works include safety-aware cost in either the power distribution or the top-level sizing studies. In this study, a potential field model characterizing the fuel cell (FC) operational state-of-safety (SOS) is developed and integrated into the coordinated optimization framework for the first time, where bidirectional interactions occur between each sizing point and its corresponding optimal energy management strategy. A fuel cell electric vehicle (FCEV) equipped with an FC/battery hybrid powertrain is selected as the research case. The optimal sizing parameters are determined by minimizing the total cost, which includes both conventional economic costs and a safety penalty related to FC operation. Under these optimal parameters, the FC in the hybrid system demonstrated a 35% improvement in the proportion of time operating within the ‘safer’ state compared to configurations lacking safety-aware considerations.