Abstract: A vehicle comprises a fuel cell that is configured to receive supply of a fuel gas and generate electric power and a motor that is configured to be driven with the electric power generated by the fuel cell. The vehicle selectively sets a drive mode of the vehicle in an accelerator-off state between an ordinary mode and a deceleration enhanced mode that decelerates the vehicle with higher deceleration force than deceleration force in the ordinary mode. The vehicle performs regenerative control of the motor in the ordinary mode or performs deceleration control of generating the deceleration force in the deceleration enhanced mode, in order to decelerate the vehicle in the set drive mode. When an accelerator stroke based on a driver's depression of an accelerator becomes higher than a cancellation threshold in the drive mode set to the deceleration enhanced mode, the vehicle changes the drive mode from the deceleration enhanced mode to the ordinary mode.

Abstract: A vehicle driven by a motor includes: a secondary battery configured to supply an electric power to the motor; a power regeneration portion configured to supply, to the secondary battery, a regenerative electric power that is recovered at a time of braking the vehicle; a power storage amount detecting portion configured to detect a power storage amount of the secondary battery; and a controlling portion configured to control charging and discharging of the secondary battery. The controlling portion estimates a regenerative electric power, and estimates an expected power-storage increasing amount, so as to calculate a virtual power storage amount from a sum total of the expected power-storage increasing amount and an actual power storage amount. The controlling portion performs charging and discharging on the secondary battery based on the virtual power storage amount.

Abstract: There is provided a control method of an external power supply system configured to supply power to the outside from a fuel cell and a secondary battery mounted on a vehicle. When a failure is detected in a sensor that measures an electric power supplied to the outside from an electric power line to which the fuel cell and the secondary battery are connectable, (a) if a decrease in a state of charge of the secondary battery is detected, external power supply is performed by increasing a generated power of the fuel cell so as to stop the decrease in the state of charge, and (b) if an increase in a state of charge of the secondary battery is detected, external power supply is performed by decreasing the generated power of the fuel cell so as to stop the increase in the state of charge.

Abstract: A fuel cell system is provided, which includes a fuel cell configured to generate power by a reaction of fuel as and air, an air compressor configured to compress air and supplying the compressed air to the fuel cell, a controller configured to control operations of the fuel cell and the air compressor, and an exhaust system member configured to discharge off-gas and produced water from the fuel cell. When a first condition including a flow rate of air by the air compressor being greater than a first flow rate is satisfied, the controller increases a rotational speed of the air compressor to supply air at or more than a second flow rate that is greater than the first flow rate to the fuel cell, and to discharge water inside the fuel cell.

Abstract: If a required voltage which corresponds to a required power has reached a boundary voltage, which is an oxidation-reduction potential of platinum, which constitutes a catalyst of a fuel cell, the fuel cell system performs crossover-avoidance control that holds an FC instruction voltage for the fuel cell at the boundary voltage, and absorbs the gap between the required voltage and the FC instruction voltage by using a secondary battery.

Abstract: A fuel cell system performs control such that when a power requirement for the fuel cell is lower than a predetermined value, a supply of a reaction gas to a fuel cell is stopped to keep an output voltage from the fuel cell equal to a high-potential avoidance voltage that is lower than an open end voltage. The fuel cell system further controls the output voltage from the fuel cell with the high-potential avoidance voltage set to be an upper limit when the power requirement for the fuel cell is equal to or higher than a predetermined value. By setting the upper limit of the output voltage of the fuel cell to be the high-potential avoidance voltage, which is lower than the open end voltage, the catalyst can be inhibited from being degraded by an increase in the output voltage from the fuel cell up to the open end voltage.

Abstract: It is possible to prevent excessive power generation of a fuel cell when a failure has occurred. When a start signal is input, a fuel cell system sets an open end voltage of the fuel cell as an initial value of the output voltage of the fuel cell corresponding to the output current zero of the fuel cell. When the failure is detected, the fuel cell system reads out the open end voltage of the preset initial value as the output voltage corresponding to the output current zero and controls the voltage so that the output voltage of the fuel cell coincides with the open end voltage.

Abstract: There are provided a fuel cell system capable of reducing power consumption by inhibiting an unnecessary operation of a DC-DC converter, and a power control method therefor.

Abstract: The progress of activation of a fuel cell is appropriately transmitted in accordance with the rise of the temperature of the fuel cell, and an estimated time till the completion of the activation is displayed with higher accuracy. To realize this, the current percentage of a fuel cell temperature is displayed on a gauge (G) which displays, as a starting point, the temperature of the fuel cell at the start of the activation and which displays, as an end point, the temperature of the fuel cell at the completion of the activation. The percentage of the temperature is displayed as the estimated time till the completion of the activation, whereby an adverse effect due to a low accuracy in the case of the estimation of the time is eliminated. When the fuel cell is activated for a failure check, the percentage of an actually elapsed time with respect to a time required to complete the failure check may be displayed on the gauge (G).

Abstract: A motor can be driven while reducing the power loss of the entire system where a plurality of devices that causes power losses exists. The system is provided with an inverter connected to a motor, a first converter that is connected between a fuel cell and the inverter and sets an output voltage of the fuel cell, a second converter that is connected between a power storage device and the inverter and sets an input voltage Vin of the inverter, and a controller that controls the first converter and the second converter. Under the operating condition (torque, number of revolutions) required for the motor, an input voltage of the inverter which minimizes a power loss of at least one of the motor, the first converter, the second converter and the inverter is determined, and the determined input voltage is output as a necessary voltage for the inverter.

Abstract: When a request power for a fuel cell is smaller than a predetermined value, a fuel cell system stops the supply of an oxidizing gas to the fuel cell and lowers the output voltage of the fuel cell from a use upper limit voltage to a reduction voltage to perform catalyst activation processing. When the output voltage of the fuel cell lowers to an air blow voltage because of the shortage of the oxidizing gas, the fuel cell system resupplies the oxidizing gas to recover the output voltage of the fuel cell.

Abstract: A fuel cell system including a fuel cell, and a converter which is connected between the fuel cell and a high voltage system and which sets an output ceiling voltage of the fuel cell, the fuel cell system comprising fuel gas supply stopping means for stopping the supply of fuel gas to the fuel cell in an intermittent operation mode, remaining fuel gas amount determination means for determining whether fuel gas in at least an amount capable of generating power remains in the fuel cell, converter driving means for driving the converter so that, when it is determined that fuel gas in at least the amount capable of generating power remains in the fuel cell, the output ceiling voltage of the fuel cell becomes a first voltage capable of preventing deterioration of the fuel cell, and converter stopping means for stopping the converter when it is determined that fuel gas in at least the amount capable of generating power does not remain in the fuel cell.

Abstract: Provided is a fuel cell system which can measure an air blow interval and consider an exceptional condition such as a high-potential-avoiding operation, thereby enabling an accurate judgment of degradation of an electrolyte. An actual air blow time interval is measured while estimating a theoretical air blow time interval when an increase of a hydrogen consumption amount corresponding to a cell voltage in the high-potential-avoiding operation according to an output current by using a relationship table which contains a record of a relationship between a hydrogen consumption amount consumed for maintaining the function of a fuel cell and the air supply time interval varying with the increase of the hydrogen consumption amount. The degradation of the electrolyte of the fuel cell is judged according to whether the measured actual air blow time interval is shorter than the theoretical air blow time interval corresponding to the hydrogen consumption amount.

Abstract: A fuel cell system including a fuel cell for generating electric power upon receiving supply of a reactant gas and a controller for performing control for high potential avoidance with the upper limit of the output voltage of the fuel cell as a high potential avoidance voltage lower than the open end voltage thereof. The controller computes a larger system requirement power out of a system requirement power calculated from a load requirement and a system requirement power calculated from the high potential avoidance voltage as a system requirement power for the fuel cell.

Abstract: A fuel cell system is provided which can extend the time during which a high-potential avoidance control is performed as much as possible, thereby reducing deterioration of a fuel cell. The fuel cell system includes: a fuel cell that generates electric power upon a supply of a reaction gas; a power storage device that is charged with at least a part of power generated by the fuel cell; and a controller that controls an output voltage of the fuel cell with, as an upper limit, a high-potential avoidance voltage lower than an open end voltage thereof. The controller variably sets the high-potential avoidance voltage in accordance with the amount of charge SOC of the power storage device.

Abstract: A fuel cell system FCS includes a fuel cell FC, a motor ES4 connected to the fuel cell FC, an FC boost converter ES6 which raises the output voltage of the fuel cell FC to output the voltage to the motor ES4, an inverter ES3, a current sensor S2, and a controller EC which controls the fuel cell FC, the FC boost converter ES6 and the inverter ES3. The controller EC controls the inverter ES3 so as to raise the target output voltage of the inverter, when the current detected by the current sensor S2 exceeds a predetermined current threshold value.

Abstract: The present invention relates to a fuel cell system including a fuel cell, a hydrogen gas piping system for supplying a hydrogen gas to the fuel cell, an injector which adjusts a gas state on an upstream side of the hydrogen gas piping system to supply the gas to a downstream side, and a control device which drives and controls the injector in a predetermined driving period, wherein a driving characteristic of the injector is learnt, and a driving parameter of the injector can be set based on a result of the learning. In the present invention, during an operation of the fuel cell, a supply pressure of the hydrogen gas can appropriately be changed in accordance with an operation state. In addition, even when the pressure is broadly varied, a satisfactory pressure response property can be secured regardless of fluctuations due to aging and individual difference of the injector.

Abstract: Provided are a fuel cell system and a control method thereof capable of inhibiting the occurrence of problems caused by surplus electrical power even in cases where the torque able to be generated by the motor is limited due to a low motor drive voltage.

Abstract: A basic injection time of an injector is obtained from an FC current detected in step S1. The basic injection time based on the FC current is multiplied by a predetermined correction coefficient for correction (learning), and the thus obtained value is re-defined as the basic injection time to obtain an injection time feedforward term (F/F term) to be obtained finally. The correction coefficient K is set by obtaining a flow rate characteristic per unit drive time of the injector in accordance with the relation between a total drive time and a total injection quantity of the injector until an FC inlet pressure on the anode side of a fuel cell reaches a predetermined target pressure by increasing the FC inlet pressure to the target pressure at a system start. The correction coefficient K is updated every system start.

Abstract: Provided are a fuel cell system and a control method thereof capable of inhibiting the occurrence of problems caused by surplus electrical power even in cases where the torque able to be generated by the motor is limited due to a low motor drive voltage.