Achievement

A management student, Eric Peterson, has taken coursework in fuel cell (FC) fundamentals to gain significant insight into hard limits (e.g., thermodynamics) to FC system performance vs. technology limits (e.g., manufacturing cost and yield) of the FC field in general, and fuel cell vehicles in particular. This, in turn, provides a theoretic basis for the modeling of eventual FCV as being hybrid systems demanding some sort of onboard alternative energy (e.g., batteries or ICE), and estimating capacity needs (of batteries) or system architecture preferences (is it efficient to maintain an onboard ICE for essentially FC startup and thermal cycling). As the study of innovation countenances points of diminishing returns on some performance parameters, as well as points of diminished utility, understanding what may and may not be subject to improvement in FCV will help inform future expectations as FCV products and companies mature.