How do you measure technical progress? Are advanced technology vehicles living up to their promises? Where will additional research and development be most beneficial?

Every spring, the Department of Energy holds the Annual Merit Review to answer those questions and more. At AMR, all the universities, labs and businesses that receive DOE funding for fuel cells, hydrogen and vehicle technologies present the results of their work to an audience of their peers. In each 20-minute session, 6-8 reviewers provide confidential feedback about the progress and relevance of the work. From the information provided, DOE determines if technologies are on target, if targets need to be reevaluated and if funding is being used wisely.

Over five days, approximately 500 people gave oral presentations and 700 gave poster presentations about 2009 progress in technology, education, codes & standards, market transformation and systems analysis for fuel cells, hydrogen, batteries, charging, biofuels and advanced combustion engines. Highlights for fuel cells and hydrogen included:

• Fuel cell durability of the fuel cell vehicles in the Technical Validation Program exceeded the 2010 durability target of 2,000 operation hours. Second-generation vehicles had 2,500 operational hours. The automakers expect the current generation of vehicles on the road today will come close to the 2015 goal of 5,000 hours.
• Second and third-generation vehicles demonstrated 250-300-mile range, meeting the 2015 goal of 300 miles. Two third-generation vehicles demonstrated 400-mile range.
• Projected high volume fuel cell stack cost has been reduced 70% from $275/kW in 2002 to $61/kW in 2009. Just in the last two years, costs have decreased by more than 35%. DOE expects that continued research in manufacturing methods will enable fuel cells to meet the 2010 target of $45/kW.

Look for more about the technical updates on our Progress page. The DOE conference proceedings are located on the DOE website.