Many fuel cell stack models or fuel cell system models exist. A model must be built with a main objective, sometimes for accurate electro-chemical behavior description, sometimes for optimization procedure at a system level. In this paper, based on the fundamental reactions present in a fuel cell stack, an accurate model and identification procedure is presented for future energy management in a Hybrid Electrical Vehicle (HEV). The proposed approach extracts all important state variables in such a system and based on the control of the fuel cell's gas flows and temperature, simplification arises to a simple electrical model. Assumptions verified due to the control of the stack allow simplifying the relationships within keeping accuracy in the description of a global fuel cell stack behavior from current demand to voltage. Modeled voltage and current dynamic behaviors are compared with actual measurements. The obtained accuracy is sufficient and less time-consuming (versus other previously published system-oriented models) leading to a suitable model for optimization iterative off-line algorithms. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.