EDAG Engineering Group AG, Wiesbaden, Germany, has started a joint research project with Hexagon Purus GmbH, Kassel, Germany (a specialist in composite high-pressure tanks and systems for installation in vehicles of all kinds) to develop a hybrid system of hydrogen and battery storage for integration into car floors. The companies are investigating how a hybrid storage system can be implemented that can combine the advantages of both drive alternatives.
The HA Hessen Agentur GmbH, a service company and think-tank from the German state of Hessen, has funded the research project with an unspecified budget. Over 18 months, a flexible storage solution is to be developed for integration into the Scalebase electric car floor presented last year.
The research project, scheduled to run for 18 months, will develop a flexible storage system for the vehicle floor in which the latest generation of batteries and hydrogen pressure tanks can be installed in parallel. The customer should then be able to configure the respective number of storage individually. It will be able to cover daily distances with battery electricity and long journeys with energy from a fuel cell powered by hydrogen tanks.
According to the company, this solution, based on the “EDAG ScaleBase” scalable vehicle platform developed by the EDAG Group, offers great advantages for vehicles used for business and private purposes. The inter-changeability of the storage units also enables resource-saving secondary use and meets the sustainability requirements of the EDAG Group and Hexagon Purus.