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With the rising interest in hydrogen fuel cell vehicles (FCV) to reduce the global warming impact of the automotive sector, the industry and car manufacturers are shifting towards producing H2-based or electricity-based vehicles. Plug-in passenger FCVs with a range-extender architecture (FCREx), could be a more versatile with a lower total cost of ownership (TCO) alternative to other FCV configurations, given the current H2 cost. In this investigation, a validated fuel cell (FC) stack model was integrated into a complete FCREx model to study the potential of this architecture in terms of H2 consumption and cradle-to-grave GHG and NOX emissions. First, the FC stack model was calibrated using experimental data. Then, a FC system model including the balance of plant (BoP) was developed and adjusted to the stack specifications. The BoP air management strategy was optimized to ensure maximum performance in steady conditions.