New lab to study fuel cell hybrid vehicles

An old laboratory within UCL Mechanical Engineering is set to be converted into a state-of-the-art facility to study fuel cell hybrid electric vehicles. The department has won a grant of £180,000 for the conversion, which will start in September and be completed by the end of the year. The new facility will allow research into hydrogen-fuelled power plants and initial studies will concentrate on examining the potential of fuel cells in hybrid buses. The grant is part of a three-year, £4m project - involving UCL, BAE Systems and Alexander Dennis, and funded by the Technology Strategy Board - to develop hybrid bus technology, seeking significant fuel savings through a number of innovations. The bus is a series hybrid, which means the electric motor is the only means of providing power to the wheels. The motor receives electric power from either the lithium-ion battery pack or from a generator run by a diesel engine. Computer algorithms determine how much of the power comes from the battery and how much comes from the engine at any time.