High Temperature Fuel Cell Hybrid Vehicle with Solar Panel

In 2011, on the twelfth marking of the Research and Technology week, and during an awards ceremony of nominating the nation’s top researchers, this automobile was unveiled. In this festival which was held in IRIB's International Conference hall, the top 15 nation’s research projects including VRU’s high-temperature polymer of fuel cell hybrid automobile were unveiled by the then president of the Islamic Republic of Iran. The ceremony was also attended by the minister of Defense and Armed forces and the minister of Science, Research and technology.
The technical specifications of this vehicle include:

• Name: VAFCA (Vali-e-Asr Fuel Cell Automobile)

• Maximum speed: 45 Km/h

• Hydrogen consumption: 67L S/min

• Traveled distance with a single charging of hydrogen cylinders: 300Km

• Voltage: 48V

• Engine power: 5KW

• High-temperature fuel cell power: 3.5 KW

• Power of solar panels: 700W

• Minimum turning radius: 5.5m

• Vehicle dimensions: 4.90*1.60*2m

• Vehicle capacity: 14 seats

• Utility: ceremonial, indoor places, airports, religious sites, inside Vali-e-Asr University, etc.

What sets this vehicle apart from other projects carried out to date includes:

• The fuel cell used was of high-temperature with the startup temperature of about 80 degrees centigrade and about 150-160 degrees centigrade which has the best performance and its output is water vapor.

• In this automobile, fuel cell is the direct force behind vehicle motion while in other projects fuel cell only charges the batteries.

• Part of the required energy is supplied by solar panels positioned on the vehicle’s roof.

• The vehicle is operating in maximum capacity.