Direct Ammonia Fuel Cell Platform · Chennai, India
Direct Ammonia to Electricity. Built for Commercial Mobility.
H2ONE Cleantech is developing a low-temperature direct ammonia fuel cell platform that converts ammonia directly into DC electricity, starting with a 10 kW power system for commercial three-wheelers.
A different primary energy system for electric mobility.
H2ONE keeps the electric drivetrain (motor, controller and power electronics) but replaces the large traction-energy battery with a direct ammonia fuel cell system supported by a small transient-energy buffer.
The proposed architecture converts ammonia directly into electricity without an external onboard hydrogen cracker.
NH₃→DAFC→DC/DC→DC BUSTransient Buffer ↔ DC Bus→ELECTRIC MOTOR
The DAFC remains the primary propulsion-energy source. The buffer is intended to support short-duration transients and regenerative braking.
Why H2ONE
Why rethink commercial vehicle energy storage?
01
High Utilisation
Commercial vehicles create value while moving. Charging downtime can affect fleet productivity.
02
Energy Density & Refuelling
Liquid-fuel logistics can offer a different operating model from grid charging.
03
Existing Electric Drivetrain
H2ONE is not redesigning the entire vehicle. The focus is on replacing the primary energy source.
Why ammonia
A hydrogen-rich molecule with established industrial logistics.
Ammonia is already produced, transported and used extensively across India in fertiliser, chemical and industrial applications.
H2ONE is developing an electrochemical route that uses ammonia directly as the fuel input to an anion-exchange-membrane fuel cell.
Direct ammonia feed
No external hydrogen cracker in the proposed architecture
No 350–700 bar hydrogen storage target
Existing industrial ammonia handling experience
Future compatibility with lower-carbon and green ammonia pathways
The programme begins with measured electrochemistry.
H2ONE has experimentally evaluated a 5 × 5 cm direct ammonia fuel cell as the electrochemical reference for future scale-up.
Experimental The 25 cm² DAFC on the bench, powering a small fan.
Experimental valuesExperimental
Active area25 cm²
OCV≈1.0 V
Peak power density≈0.12 W/cm²
Peak-power current-density region≈0.27–0.30 A/cm²
Operating reference≈70 °C
This reference cell is not the final vehicle stack. It is the starting point for large-area cell and multi-cell stack development. See the full polarisation data →
Where we are today
From cell proof to vehicle proof.
Completed
25 cm² DAFC experimental validation
Fe–Ni/C anode pathway
MnO₂/C cathode pathway
Direct NH₃ operation
Initial polarisation dataset
MATLAB cell-to-vehicle model
In development
Intermediate-area cell
Reactant distribution
Membrane trade study
Balance of plant
Next major hardware gate100 cm² → 400–600 cm² → 900 cm² candidate
Final programme target10 kW net vehicle demonstrator
Scale-up is not simple geometric multiplication. Larger cells introduce reactant distribution, sealing, current collection, thermal uniformity and crossover challenges.
Ammonia is a toxic industrial chemical and must be handled with disciplined engineering controls. H2ONE's development architecture combines containment, detection, isolation and mitigation.
1ContainmentPressure-rated vessel, fittings and protected lines
2DetectionNH₃ sensors, pressure, temperature and flow monitoring
3IsolationNormally closed valves and emergency fuel shutoff
4MitigationForced ventilation and controlled exhaust treatment
The first deployment concept is a controlled fleet/depot model, not immediate public refuelling infrastructure. Safety architecture →
Mobility
First application: commercial three-wheeler.
H2ONE is using a known electric three-wheeler architecture as the development reference.
Reference vehicle
Reference
GVW
791 kg
Top speed
55 km/h
Gradeability
12°
Motor
10 kW PMSM
Peak torque
60 Nm
Original battery
10.6 kWh
Engineering insight: Flat-road power demand is significantly below the 10 kW motor rating. Additional power capacity is required for acceleration, payload, gradient and transient reserve. See the power model →
Latest engineering updateEngineering update · September 2026
MATLAB cell-to-stack model completed
The model links the measured 25 cm² polarisation data to large-area cells, stack sizing and three-wheeler road load, so each scale-up decision can be checked against the measured cell.
Simulated Model outputs support engineering decisions. They are not measured stack or vehicle performance.
