Low-speed electric vehicles, powered by an electric motor, produce no emissions and travel at speeds below 40 krnlh. These vehicles are designed to complement primary vehicles for local neighborhood transportation.

The fuel cell hybrid electric system has the ideal characteristics needed to power these low-speed vehicles. This type of system can attain a much longer range and a shorter rechargelrefuel time when compared with electric vehicles powered solely by batteries.

To optimize these modem vehicles and the fuel cell power system for a given driving environment, the hybrid power system and vehicle must be tested under specific road cycles developed from realistic traffic patterns before mass-production begins. A testing apparatus known as a "dynamometer" is usually chosen for testing purposes.

Dynamometers are used to isolate and quantify a vehicle torque, power output, and dynamics from overall vehicle performance. When combined with drive cycle simulations, dynamometer testing can serve as an effective evaluation tool in vehicle design and optimization. The results from dynamometer testing provide useful information for the theoretical models and guide the design of the vehicle and the fuel cell power system.

A dynamometer system for testing fuel cell hybrid low-speed electric vehicles (FCHLSEVs) is under development at the Institute for Integrated Energy Systems (IESVic) and at the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Victoria. The system is designed to assist in the analysis and development of FCHLSEVs as well as in the validation of current vehicle performance modeling methods. It will be used as a design and evaluation tool for fuel cell - powered vehicles.

The system consists of:​ roller units, eddy-current absorber and controller, a custom platform for housing, custom connection and adjustment parts, data acquisition electronics and software, and research software developed at UVic. A larger roller unit is considered as a future addition to test larger fuel cell vehicles.

The thesis work describes the dynamometer system design, including the spatial and structural analyses carried out on the dynamometer. This report gives a background study of fuel cell systems, low-speed vehicles and their testing methods, the configurations of the designed platform structure, its potential variations, and its capacity for testing of various FCHLSEVs, including a fuel cell - powered electric scooter and a utility vehicle.