Abstract: A fuel cell system for a vehicle, comprising a fuel cell and a water collection device for collecting liquid water from exhaust gas of the fuel cell, comprising an exhaust gas cooler including a heat exchanger which cools the exhaust gas by transferring heat from the exhaust gas to a flow of a cooling medium and condenses water contained in the exhaust gas and comprising a water tank for storing the collected water, a cooling device for cooling the fuel cell comprising a cooler, and a water ejection device for ejecting and distributing water. The water tank may be pressurized. A control means may choose operating modes for the fuel cell system that comprise an operating mode for water collection and an operating mode for water ejection based on a power schedule that comprises a sequence of scheduled operating phases with varying power requirements for the fuel cell system.