• WP1: Project management was effective throughout INSPIRE, with strong communication between a consortium of active and engaged partners, and regular face-to-face and web meetings. A grant amendment request for a 6-month extension was submitted and approved in October 2018 which enabled a better feedback loop between the different stack generation designs and adequate time for testing. Synergies between INSPIRE and other FCH JU projects were clearly developed and strengthened.
• WP2: Within the first 18 months of the project, fully integrated stack requirements and protocols were defined and these continued to be reassessed throughout the project to support the delivery of the key components in automotive-relevant conditions. The economic assessment was completed in the last period resulting in an overall cost of 55 €/kW (excluding PGM) for a production volume of 50,000 stacks/year, which is slightly higher than the 50 €/kW target but does not include any cost-down assumptions with respect to the overall supply chain, as these are very difficult to predict, or improvements to quality control automatisation or further process or material improvements.
• WP3: Six different approaches to catalyst development were followed: alloy/de-alloyed, core-shell, faceted surfaces, nanoframes, extended thin films and nanowire-coated fibres. Two catalysts were successfully scaled up and evaluated, with two 2 kg batches completed for the most promising Pt/Ni de-alloyed catalyst. The catalyst work package met its final mass activity target of 0.6 A/mg Pt.
• WP4: The catalyst coated membrane components, namely the membrane, anode and cathode catalyst layer, were developed in tandem with the bipolar plate (BPP) in WP5 in order to maximise both performance and durability. The polybenzimidazole (PBI) supported membrane work built on developments from the VOLUMETRIQ project (Grant No. 671465), by successfully introducing alternative ionomers with the PBI support.
• WP5: Throughout the project, the stack components were continually developed, with a first design delivered at Month 18 and the second stack design delivered in July 2019 (Month 39). During the last reporting period, the GEN 3.0 BPPs were finalised using a combination of computational flow modelling (CFD) and the learnings from the initial stack testing phase. Overall, three types of GDLs, 2588 MEAs and 1860 stack plates (bipolar, unipolar and coolant plates) were delivered and scaled up in accordance with the project objectives. Furthermore, the final GEN 3.0 stack design proved successful in demonstrating the project power density target of 1.5 W/cm2.
• WP6: Two separate single cells were designed and provided to BMW and JM for prototype testing, and twenty short stacks and two full-size stacks were tested. Two new housing and compression plates were developed with the final iteration compatible with vehicle integration. The final GEN 3.0 stack demonstrated a power density of 1.5 W/cm2 at 0.6 V and delivered a peak power of 170 kW, equivalent to a cell-pack-only volumetric density of 5.7 kW/l and a weight density of 4.2 kW/kg. The degradation observed was 22-29 µV/hr, but the test does not yet reflect real operating conditions, and an acceleration factor of two is believed to be at play.
• WP7: A total of 25 oral and poster presentations and 8 accepted publications (another 1 has been submitted) represent significant scientific dissemination and demonstrate the strong scientific quality of the work carried out within INSPIRE. Strong links and synergies with other European projects have also underpinned the project and culminated in a shared workshop with 10 other FCH JU projects in March 2019.
