Red Bull Advanced Technologies, the high-performance arm of Red Bull Racing Group, is partnering with mobility technology company AVL to develop what the companies call the “next generation of ultra-high-power density fuel cell technology”. The target is to create a solution that is two-thirds lighter than conventional fuel cell systems, making them applicable to high-performance automotive, motorsport and aviation industries.
The collaboration combines AVL’s industry portfolio of PEM fuel cell technology and Red Bull’s experience and methodologies in lightweight design, construction and aerodynamics. Joint investigations indicate that upon successful completion, dramatic improvements in gravimetric power density can be achieved with values toward 6kW/kg on stack level and 2kW/kg on fuel cell system level. This technology has the potential to result in the world’s highest gravimetric power density PEM fuel cell system.
Rob Gray, technical director, Red Bull Advanced Technologies, commented, “We are delighted to be working with AVL on this collaboration to increase fuel cell power density and thus improve performance. It goes to show how beneficial the application of cutting edge F1 inspired engineering can be with solving real-world problems.”