Sustainable mobility

One important development that will make internal combustion engines more sustainable is to run them directly on hydrogen, rather than fossil fuels. This will have a huge impact on carbon emissions, which will be reduced by over 99%. We are researching the mono-fuel and dual-fuel variants. Advantages of this technology include rapid market availability through the leveraging of existing production and service lines, low costs, insensitivity to hydrogen purity, and finally, geographical independence in terms of the materials needed.

Research into the lifespan and lifespan extension of batteries is of great importance because the battery is often the most expensive element in an electrified system. We would like to know how good a battery remains after a certain usage time ('State-of-Health'), and how long it can still be used in the same or different application ('Remaining-Useful-Life').

We draw on our knowledge of batteries from detailed models to extend the lifespan of batteries. On the one hand in the direct control of the battery (for example by influencing charging profiles) and on the other hand by integrating this knowledge with fleet management tools. All this to minimise the total costs over the entire lifespan. Additionally, we apply this expertise to establish a Battery Passport, as mandated by European regulations, and generate the necessary input data.

Energy management in a vehicle is gaining in importance, especially when it comes to hybrid vehicles. Hybrid vehicles often combine batteries with fuel cells or an internal combustion engine. The size of these components has to be determined during the design phase and depends on the task that the vehicle or vessel will be used for. This question is particularly relevant in the case of non-road applications, such as a tractor or construction machine, for example. In addition, once a vehicle is actually being used, real-time decisions need to be made about when to charge the battery or when the battery should kick in to carry out the task. TNO has a solution to answer these questions.

The fuel cell is an interesting form of powertrain, because of the high degree of efficiency with which it converts hydrogen into electricity. Fuel cells are also silent, of course, and have no emissions. At TNO, we are researching ways to extend the life of fuel cells, which is important given their currently high purchase price. We are conducting this research in relation to the existing PEM technology, but are also now actively involved in designing a control platform for a new technology called SOFC.

Besides hydrogen, there are also other fuels that can be generated efficiently from renewable resources. Take methanol, DME or ammonia, for example. The knowledge TNO has amassed in relation to internal combustion engines over recent decades can be put to excellent use here to make sure that both new and existing engines can run very efficiently on these fuels. At present, we expect this technology to be applied most widely within the maritime sector, where there is a great deal of interest in the use of methanol. We are researching how dual-fuel engines could be designed that run on both methanol and diesel.