Mobility technology company AVL has joined forces with Red Bull Advanced Technologies to accelerate the advancement of a new generation of fuel cells, with a focus on enhancing power density. The partnership aims to optimize fuel cells for aviation, future motorsport series, and other high-payload applications, targeting a weight reduction of two-thirds compared to conventional fuel cell systems.
AVL, an Austrian technology specialist developing both battery electric vehicle (BEV) and fuel cell electric vehicle (FCEV) drives, is collaborating with Red Bull Advanced Technologies, the high-performance division of the Red Bull Racing Group. The cooperation combines AVL’s leading portfolio of PEM fuel cell technology with Red Bull’s expertise in lightweight design, construction, and aerodynamics.
The goal of the collaboration is to achieve “drastic improvements” in gravimetric power density, with targeted values of 6 kW/kg at stack level and 2 kW/kg at system level. Rob Gray, Technical Director at Red Bull Advanced Technologies, expressed enthusiasm about the collaboration, stating, “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 of AVL, echoed this sentiment, saying, “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.”
AVL, with over 12,300 employees, is renowned for its development, simulation, and testing services in the automotive industry and beyond. The company’s focus on alternative drives led to the establishment of a new Battery Innovation Centre (BIC) in Graz in 2021, dedicated to developing new high-voltage batteries for electric vehicles and validating new production processes.
The collaboration between AVL and Red Bull Advanced Technologies highlights the growing importance of fuel cell technology in high-performance applications and underscores the potential for innovative engineering solutions derived from Formula 1-inspired methodologies.
