AVL and Red Bull Advanced Technologies to develop high-power-density fuel cell tech

Mobility technology company AVL is partnering with Red Bull Advanced Technologies, the high-performance arm of Red Bull Racing Group, to develop the next generation of ultra-high-power density fuel cell technology. The lightweight solutions are expected to be two-thirds lighter than conventional fuel cell systems, thereby paving the way for net-zero carbon emissions across high-performance automotive, motorsport and aviation industries.

This collaboration combines AVL’s industry leading portfolio of PEM fuel cell technology and Red Bull’s winning technologies and novel methodologies in lightweight design, construction, and aerodynamics. This project is expected to deliver a fuel cell system for high performance application that exceeds those currently available globally. 

Joint investigations indicate that upon successful completion, dramatic improvements in gravimetric power density can be achieved with values towards 6kW/kg on stack level and 2kW/kg on fuel cell system level. This technology has the potential to result in the world’s highest gravimetric power density PEM fuel cell system.

The solutions to be achieved will be a significant milestone in net-zero carbon technology innovation, enabling sectors such as aerospace, future motorsport series, and a multitude of other maximum payload applications to have the power density figures required in hydrogen mobility.

Rob Gray, Technical Director, Red Bull Advanced Technologies, said: “We are delighted to be working with AVL on this collaboration to increase fuel cell power density and thus improve performance. It goes to show how beneficial the application of cutting edge F1 inspired engineering can be with solving real-world problems.”

Jürgen Rechberger, Vice-President, AVL, commented: “We are very proud to be working closely with Red Bull. This partnership will combine the knowledge and experience of our experts, allowing us to improve the gravimetric power density of our fuel cell technology by a factor of three and hence meet the requirements of high-performance applications like aviation and racing.”