Fuel cell system and method of operating the fuel cell system

A fuel cell vehicle comprising:

• a fuel cell system comprising an anode, a cathode, and a cooling subsystem;
• and
• a control system comprising processing circuitry configured to control operation of a fuel cell system, the processing circuitry being further configured to:
• estimate a duration of a stopover of the vehicle when a request for the stopover of the vehicle is detected;
• determine whether the fuel cell system needs to be shut down during the stopover, wherein the determining is based at least on the duration of the stopover of the vehicle;
• responsive to determining that the fuel cell system needs to be shut down during the stopover and responsive to determining that a freeze preparation of the fuel cell system is required during the stopover, determine whether it is possible to reduce a temperature of the fuel cell system below a first threshold level at a time of a shutdown of the fuel cell system;
• and
• responsive to determining that it is possible to reduce the temperature of the fuel cell system below the first threshold level at the time of the shutdown of the fuel cell system, perform an early freeze preparation at the time of the shutdown of the fuel cell system.