Calculation and comparison of fuel consumption values depending on driving cycles of conventional vehicles and fuel cell vehicles

The fossil energy resources are gradually decreasing with global warming caused by pollutant emissions and the increasing world population. This problem has required the development of various technologies for the use of cleaner, sustainable energy sources. In order to reduce the impact of the transport sector on global warming and make energy use more efficient, electric and hybrid vehicles are the best alternative to the internal combustion engine vehicles. Fully electric vehicles operating with batteries or fuel cells make a significant contribution to reducing emissions. With the development of fuel cell and hydrogen technology, fuel cell electric vehicles started to gain importance among alternative vehicles. The aim of this thesis study is to compare the fuel consumption of fuel cell electric vehicles and conventional vehicles and to calculate the amount of energy recovered during recuperation. For this purpose, firstly, fuel consumption was calculated by creating backward vehicle model for a light commercial vehicle with internal combustion engine in MATLAB 2018b. In addition, the benefits of fuel cut-off and Start&Stop strategies which are applied for fuel economy in conventional vehicles were also examined. In the second part of the study, when a fuel cell was used for the same vehicle, the amount of hydrogen consumed and the energy recaptured during regenerative braking were calculated. At the end of the study, the amounts of fuel and energy consumed for both vehicle configuration were compared. According to the diesel equivalent, fuel consumption of fuel cell electric vehicle is less of 32% than that of the conventional vehicle.