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Cold weather operation has been a major issue for fuel cell vehicles (FCV). In order to counteract this effect on FCV operation, an approach for rapid warm-up operation based on : concentration overvoltage increase and conversion efficiency decrease by limiting oxygen or hydrogen supply, was adopted in a running fuel cell hybrid vehicle. In order to adjust the output power response of the fuel cell to the target power of the vehicle, -the inherent capacitance characteristics of the fuel cell were measured- based on the oxidation-reduction reaction and an electric double-layer capacitor, and an equivalent electric circuit model of a fuel cell with the capacitance was constructed. This equivalent electric circuit model was used to develop a power control algorithm to manage absorption of the surplus power, or deviation, to the capacitance.

The Fuel Cell is a highly efficient device that when integrated with hybrid technology yields even higher system-level efficiencies. This impressive efficiency is one of the key reasons fuel cell technology is one of the most promising future power sources. However, this benefit creates a significant challenge in cold climates. With so much of the energy converted directly to power, there is little waste heat compared to conventional internal combustion engine (ICE) technologies. This challenge is particularly apparent at system start up from ambient sub-freezing temperatures due to the fact that the fuel cell heats-up slower than internal combustion engines (ICEs). Clearly, the amount of heat generation can be increased if the total power produced by the system is increased proportionally, but this method can be challenging because the excess power must be consumed in some manner (such as by a cabin heater).