This paperpresents astudyof a polymer electrolyte fuel cell (PEFC) power generator based on a multi-stack association dedicated to transportation applications. First, a dynamic model of the fuel cell for high frequencies, which can be used in association with the power converter is presented. In a second hand, an original power converter architecture has been studied which authorizes the electrical association of two fuel cell stacks. Such a configuration is well adapted for the testing of fuel cell in normal or degraded mode which corresponds to real operating conditions encountered on-board a vehicle. Finally, simulation results of the complete twin-stacks power system are presented and discussed. (c) 2005 Published by Elsevier B.V.