BMW iX5 Hydrogen
Water march: With the iX5 Hydrogen, BMW relies on hydrogen technology and sends a small vanguard into the race.
(Photo: dpa)
It drives purely electrically and still does not have to go to the charging station. Because instead of a large battery, the electric motor of the new BMW iX5 Hydrogen is powered by a fuel cell. It converts the hydrogen from a high-pressure tank into electricity in a chemical reaction and produces water vapor as the only exhaust gas. The principle is not new.
Toyota, Honda and Hyundai have had the technology in series for years. But with BMW, the first German manufacturer is now jumping on this bandwagon and putting at least a small fleet of vehicles on the market.
First, 100 vehicles move out
The Bavarians are now converting 100 copies of the X5, which are to be used in fleet tests and by end customers worldwide, the manufacturer said. The most powerful fuel cell used in passenger cars to date has an output of 125 kW/170 hp and, together with a backup battery, enables an engine output of 295 kW/401 hp.
The X5 accelerates from zero to 100 km/h in less than six seconds and reaches a maximum speed of 180 km/h. Filled up with six kilograms of hydrogen within a few minutes, the range is over 500 kilometers according to BMW.
“We are sticking to our course of electrification without any ifs or buts,” says Board Member for Development Frank Weber. “But we have serious doubts that this can be achieved to the same extent and at the same pace with purely battery-electric vehicles all over the world.”
Ready for series production in the second half of the decade
Because the much smaller buffer battery with a capacity of 10 kilowatt hours (kWh) requires fewer critical raw materials and because green hydrogen can be stored better than green electricity, the fuel cell is an alternative that should not be lost sight of, says Weber further.
On the contrary: “We don’t want to just leave it at a test fleet and be ready for series production in the second half of the decade,” announced Weber. Until then, only technical details would have to be optimized and costs further reduced.
Then Weber considers price parity with pure battery vehicles to be achievable. The most important course for this has already been set: When the “New Class” as the architecture for all upcoming BMW models makes its debut in two years, the fuel cell will be firmly planned there.
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