Life will be a gas for future BMW cars
Latest fuel-cell tech revealed Hydrogen X5s due in 2022
BMW has reiterated its plan to introduce 12 all-electric cars by 2023, but behind the scenes, the firm’s engineers have introduced a plugless spin on the company’s zero-emissions future vision.
Hydrogen fuel-cell technology – now often overlooked in the scramble to develop plug-in battery-powered electric cars – is still in vogue with many in BMW. The firm has been working on the tech with Toyota since 2013, and BMW has just revealed the latest development of this joint project: a new hydrogen fuel-cell powertrain that could be in mass production by the middle of this decade.
The new powertrain is being shown in the i Hydrogen NEXT – a concept car first presented at last year’s Frankfurt Motor Show. The car is a modified version of the X5 SUV, featuring some updated styling, a platform that can accommodate a fuelcell drivetrain, and BMW i branding.
The fuel cell generates electrical energy by creating a reaction between hydrogen (pressurised in two 700-bar tanks) and oxygen from the atmosphere. A converter adapts it to a voltage suitable for the battery and electric motors – the latter taken from the upcoming, plug-in BMW iX3, and developing up to 369bhp.
BMW says that refilling the tanks, which can hold 6kg of hydrogen, could in theory only take as long as fuelling a regular petrol or diesel car. Performance is comparable with that of a plug-in electric vehicle, and there is the potential for longer ranges.
The only emission from the exhaust pipe is water vapour, while efforts are under way to develop ways to source hydrogen using green electricity and renewable sources.
BMW will roll out the new drivetrain in a small batch of modified X5s from 2022, with a view to selling a hydrogen fuel-cell car – probably based on the next X5 or the X7, given how much space the drivetrain needs – in the second half of this decade.
BMW doesn’t see fuel-cell technology as a potential route around developing plugin electric vehicles, and Klaus Fröhlich – board member responsible for research and development – says the firm sees them as a ‘fourth pillar’ alongside petrol and dieselpowered cars, plug-in hybrids and EVs.
“We are convinced that various powertrains will exist alongside one another in future, as no single solution addresses the full spectrum of customers’ mobility needs,” he explains. Fröhlich says BMW’s larger SUVs – and cars that cannot be “directly electrified, such as longdistance heavy-duty transport” – are prime candidates for hydrogen power in the future.