Since 2005, Mercedes-Benz Research & Development North America (MBRDNA) participated in the DOE’s Technology Validation Programs to help accelerate the market introduction of fuel cell vehicles. Under the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) contract DE-EE0005971, which ran from 2013 - 2019, MBRDNA collaborated with the DOE to evaluate overall vehicle degradation effects of fuel cell vehicles, as well as evaluate the generational improvements from one vehicle generation to another. The goal was to achieve a mileage target of 10,000-12,000 miles per vehicle per year and 750 to 1,000 operating hour accumulation per fuel cell stack. The MBRDNA Project Team (Project Team) leased a total of 69 fuel cell vehicles to regular Mercedes-Benz customers through select dealerships in Northern and Southern California. Of these 69 vehicles, a minimum of 20 active vehicles were chosen to participate in this project based on customer driving habits, average daily miles, and geographic conditions. These vehicles were equipped with a data acquisition system that automatically collected statistically relevant data for submission to the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, which monitors the progress of fuel cell vehicle technology for the DOE. As customer operation of GEN II vehicles ended in Q4 2017, a decision was made to
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