This paper presents experimental and modeling study of high temperature polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell performance. The experiments are performed using in-house prepared MEA with an active area of 2.25 cm2. The experiments are simulated using a one dimensional distributed charge transfer model that resolves the properties along the thickness of the MEA. Six different HOR models and two different ORR models are subjected to initial studies. The model predictions are compared with cell performance on pure H2 and H2 with CO contamination. A detailed sensitivity analysis is carried out to understand the influence of various model parameters on cell performance over a range of potentials. © 2018 Elsevier Ltd