In the present research, a commercial battery-powered pure electric vehicle was suitably modified to convert it into a hybrid one integrating a PEMFC stack. The hydrogen supply system to the stack included a passive recirculation system based on a Ventury-type ejector. Besides, in order to achieve an optimum operation of the PEMFC stack, a discrete state machine model was considered in its control system. The inclusion of a rehabilitation operating mode prevented the stack from possible failures, increasing its lifetime. It was verified that for the rated operating point when supplying power to the vehicle (2.5 kW) the hydrogen consumption decreased, and the actual efficiency (47.9%) PEMFC was increased close to 1%. Field tests performed demonstrate that the range of the hybrid electric vehicle was increased by 78% when compared to the one of the original battery electric car. Also, under the tested experimental conditions in hybrid mode, 34% of the total energy demanded by the electric machine of the vehicle was supplied by the PEMFC stack. (C) 2017 Hydrogen Energy Publications LLC. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.