DOE Issues RFI on Fuel Cells as Range-Extenders for EV Fleets

July 7, 2014

Mary Chuff

The Franche-Comté region of France and the French postal service, La Poste, are testing hydrogen-based range-extender kits from Symbio FCell in Renault Kangoo Z.E electric vehicles used by La Poste. The vehicles are equipped with hydrogen fuel cell range-extender kits and were deployed in the first quarter of 2014. The above fuel cell, used in the trials, achieved approximately 320 km (200 mi) range—more than doubling the range of the pure BEV version of the Kangoo.

The U.S. Department of Energy's Fuel Cell Technologies Office has issued a request for information (RFI) to the research community and relevant stakeholders, according to a release. The DOE is seeking feedback about fuel-cell technology validation, commercial acceleration, and potential deployment strategies for continuous fuel-cell rechargers (range-extenders) on board light-duty battery-electric vehicle fleets. Also requested is technical information and information on vehicle makes and models that are the most feasible for an aftermarket modification to extend vehicle range using a fuel-cell system. Light-duty all-electric vehicles with fuel-cell range-extenders for commercial fleet vehicles potentially have comparable or better performance than internal-combustion-engine propulsion systems for battery electric vehicles. Electric drivetrains might benefit from batteries for delivering power and fuel-cell systems for energy storage and peak power needs. For details, see the RFI announcement DE-FOE-0001145 or email questions to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. with “question” in the subject line. Responses to the RFI must be submitted by 5 p.m. (EDT) Aug. 7, 2014.