Fuel-Cell Electric Buses (FCEBs) have been deployed in multiple demonstrations in Europe, Canada and the USA, but they still suffer from high costs and low availability. Oddly enough, the low availability has almost always been due to control issues and hybridisation strategies rather than problems in the fuel cells themselves. Giantleap aims to increase the availability and reduce the total cost of ownership of FCEBs by increasing the lifetime and reliability of the fuel cell system; this will be achieved with advanced online diagnostics of the fuel cells and the balance-of-plant components of the system, coupled with prognostics methods to calculate the system's residual useful life, and advanced control algorithms able to exploit this information to maximise the system's life. The same control system will also be engineered for robustness, in order to increase availability to the level of diesel buses or better. Giantleap will improve the understanding of degradation in fuel-cell systems with extensive experimentation and analysis; diagnostic and prognostic methods will focus on exploitation of current sensors to make the novel control approach cost-effective. Giantleap includes the demonstration of a prototype in relevant environment, allowing the project to reach technology readiness level 6. The prototype will be a trailer-mounted fuel-cell based range extender meant for battery city buses. The ability to swap out the range extender in case of malfunctions greatly increases the availability of the bus, while the large battery capacity allows the bus to complete its route should malfunctions occur during usage. Furthermore, the large battery capacity will give the control system ample opportunity to optimise fuel-cell usage via hybridisation management strategies.

Batteries are not yet the ideal energy container they were promised to be. They are expensive, fragile and potentially dangerous. Moreover the current EV cannot compete yet with traditional vehicles when it comes to driving range and flexibility. EVERLASTING intends to bring Li-ion batteries closer to this ideal by focusing on the following technology areas. • Predicting the behavior of battery systems in all circumstances and over their full lifetime. This enables accurate dimensioning and choice of the correct battery type, leading to lower cost. It also facilitates the development of a powerful battery management system during all stages of its evolution from idea to fully tested product. • Sensing signals beyond the standard parameters of current, voltage and temperature. This multi-sensing approach provides more varied and in-depth data on the status of the battery facilitating a pro-active and effective management of the batteries, preventing issues rather than mitigating them. • Monitoring the status of the battery by interpreting the rich sensor data. By intelligently combining this information with road, vehicle and driver data we intend to offer accurate higher-level driver feedback. This induces a bigger trust and hence a lower range anxiety. • Managing the battery in a proactive way, based on a correct assessment of its status. Efficient thermal management and load management results in increased reliability and safety and leads to lower overall cost through an increased lifetime. • Defining a standard BMS architecture and interfaces and gathering the necessary support in the market. This allows an industry of standard BMS components to flourish which will result in lower cost.