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Proton-exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFC) are an alternative to internal combustion engines and lithium batteries. In fact, PEMFCs emit only water during operation, and the fuel (hydrogen) can be produced from low carbon sources. However, PEMFCs still have a limited lifespan, primarily due to membrane deterioration. This deterioration is exacerbated when the membrane is subjected to temperature fluctuations or hot spots. Ideally, the membrane must be maintained at approximately 80°C regardless of the electrical load dynamics. Thermal management is therefore essential for improving the performance and service life of the fuel cell. This problem is particularly critical for heavy-duty mobility applications such as trucks, where high energy demand can occur while cooling airflow is low. In such cases, it might be advantageous to use multiple PEMFCs to distribute the thermal load, but this requires an optimized cooling system. To best address this issue, a 0D model of a PEMFC (based on those in [1] and [2]) and the cooling system was developed to pre-design a multi-stack experimental bench, identify missing parameters, and test control scenarios. The model focuses on the thermal load generated by the fuel cell and the response of the watercooling system and does not account for membrane hydration, gas species crossover through the membranes, hydrogen recirculation in the anode, or variations in gas temperature and ambient air temperature. Model validation was achieved using experiments conducted on a fully automated and monitored test bench using a Ballard FCGen 6.5 kW fuel cell. The match was partially obtained by comparing polarization curve and thermal behavior. But more technical information on the Ballard fuel cell (in particular its optimal parameters) and more instrumentation at the cooling system level would be beneficial to assess the accuracy of the modeling. The next step is to develop a multi-stacks bench in order to test different thermal management strategies based on model results. [1] Zhao, X., Li, Y., Liu, Z., Li, Q., and Chen, W. Thermal management system modeling of a watercooled proton exchange membrane fuel cell. International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, 40(7), 3048– 3056, 2015. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhydene.2014.12.026 [2] Fahim, S. R., Hasanien, H. M., Turky, R. A., Alkuhayli, A., Al-Shamma’a, A. A., Noman, A. M., Tostado-Véliz, M., and Jurado, F. Parameter Identification of Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell Based on Hunger Games Search Algorithm. Energies, 14(16), 2021. https://doi.org/10.3390/en1416 5022