Unleashing
the Potential of
Fuel Cells
MORELife Project
The Durability Challenge
Proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cells are regarded as
a cornerstone of carbon-neutral mobility. Their high efficiency
and wide application range – from trucks to ships, trains, and
stationary power – make them attractive for future energy sys-
tems. Yet despite rapid progress, durability remains a barrier to
broad market acceptance. Users expect fuel cells to deliver a
service life comparable to conventional technologies, especial-
ly in heavy-duty commercial vehicles.
Failures associated with degradation are often only identi-
fied during costly, time-consuming lifetime tests or through
warranty cases. Start-up and shutdown cycles, dynamic load
changes, and starvation effects are particularly harmful. Ad-
dressing these issues requires a better understanding of how
operating strategies influence degradation – and how they can
be optimized to extend lifetime.
The MORELife Project
The MORELife project brings together strong partners from
industry and academia to address fuel cell durability. Fund-
ed by the Clean Hydrogen Joint Undertaking, it investigates
degradation mechanisms and develops strategies to improve
reliability, with the goal of enabling fuel cells to operate for up
to 30,000 hours in heavy-duty applications.
AVL contributes its diagnostics and validation expertise,
ensuring that new insights are translated into practical testing
and optimization approaches. At the core of AVL’s involvement
is AVL PUMA 2™ Fuel Cell Diagnostic Toolchain, a tool that
provides instant feedback on critical operating conditions
during commissioning, testing, and calibration. Stressors such
as start-up and shutdown cycles, dynamic operation, and
hydrogen and air starvation become visible. Combined with
the simulation tools AVL CAMEO™ and AVL CruiseM™, and
validated on Greenlight testbeds, the tool supports data-driven
optimization of operating strategies – finding the right balance
between efficiency, performance, and durability.
Proof in Practice: 50 % Less Degradation Stress
In application-relevant testing environments, the MORELife
consortium has shown how identical current cycles under
different conditions lead to differences in performance and
degradation. Optimized operating strategies, validated through
PUMA 2, reduced dynamic operation stress by up to 50 %.
These results highlight the value of a toolchain that combines
simulation, diagnostics, and real-world validation.
For industry and customers, MORELife delivers faster knowl-
edge transfer, reliable development decisions, and lower
testing costs. The insights gained support the design of
longer-lasting, more efficient fuel cells tailored to the demands
of heavy-duty mobility.
Fuel cells promise high efficiency and
flexibility, but durability remains a major
challenge. The MORELife research project
brings together strong partners from industry
and academia – including AVL – to investigate
degradation and extend the lifetime of heavy-
duty fuel cells.
The Partners
The MORELife consortium unites AVL List GmbH,
Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH, Politecnico di
Torino, RWTH Aachen University, TU Graz, University of
Ljubljana, HyCentA Research GmbH, Greenlight Innova-
tion, and ElringKlinger AG. The project is funded by the
Clean Hydrogen Joint Undertaking.