If it weren’t so conspicuously glued and had these blue accents all around, you wouldn’t see that the BMW iX5 Hydrogen gets its propulsion power from a hydrogen fuel cell under the hood. Not even while driving. And not in the interior either – and that is actually what is surprising.
The iX5 Hydrogen rushes forward silently. 374 hp from a standstill are also an announcement for a 2.5-ton SUV. The energy for the drive is generated by the reaction of hydrogen with the oxygen in the air; the waste product is pure water.
The hydrogen cars I’ve driven so far don’t offer much space. Above all, the Toyota Mirai (even in its second generation!) Is extremely wasteful with its almost 5 meters exterior length – there is no more space in the interior than in a VW Polo, and even the driver and front passenger are cramped. Not to mention the back seat.
No restrictions due to the drive
Quite different in the BMW iX5. The space available here corresponds to that of the plug-in hybrid variant, there are no restrictions whatsoever for the occupants. Only the trunk is a little flatter than in the combustion engine, the storage space underneath is completely omitted except for a small compartment, because the high-voltage battery is located there. The two 700 bar pressure tanks are located under the rear seats and in the tunnel. They can be filled with around six kilograms of hydrogen in three to four minutes.
Soon H2 like in diving bottles
In the future, the aim is to offer ideal space conditions in smaller vehicles too. “We are developing the tanks so that they fit into the battery box,” explains Jürgen Guldner, Head of the BMW Group Hydrogen Fuel Cell Technology and Vehicle Projects. “That sounds strange, but the code name of the project is: The round has to go into the square.” In fact, instead of two large ones, several small tanks will be used in the future – comparable to compressed air cylinders for divers – that are housed next to each other.
In principle, it should be “so that each of our vehicles with an electric drive can also be operated with a hydrogen fuel cell. Battery electrics and hydrogen electrics will complement each other. It will be the same architecture, only in one case the energy will be stored in the form of molecules, in the other in the form of electrons, ”enthuses Guldner. A hydrogen i4 would also be conceivable, but it is not yet specifically planned.
The so-called “New Class”, BMW’s new electric car architecture of the future, on which new BMWs are to be based from 2025, will in any case also be designed for hydrogen propulsion. As an aside: According to Guldner, internal combustion engines can also be used here in the future.
Most powerful car hydrogen drive on the market
In general, Guldner is mightily proud of the drive, because the fuel cells themselves are built by cooperation partner Toyota, but “there is a lot of BMW engineering in the drive”. The Munich-based company put the cells together in a so-called stack, and the entire system, including cooling, air supply and compressor, is being developed in-house. The result is “the world’s most powerful fuel cell for cars”. It has an output of 125 kW / 170 PS and not only charges the high-voltage battery, but can also feed the electric motor directly. If all the available power is called up, 150 kW are added from the battery – making 275 kW / 374 PS system power.
The electric motor is also used in the BMW iX and the iX3, among others. In coasting and braking phases, it takes on the function of a generator that feeds energy into a power battery.
Armed for the future
Series production including sales to end customers is currently not planned, says Guldner. There are still too few hydrogen filling stations and too little green hydrogen. Initially, a small series is planned that will not be sold. “We want to be ready to master the technology, which is why we make the small fleet with test vehicles so that we know how the vehicles behave in everyday use. We prepare the New Class for this and are then prepared, depending on how the markets develop. ”He expects the breakthrough of hydrogen technology within this decade.
“We think that for some of our customers the hydrogen drive will mean better electromobility, better emission-free mobility.” These are customers who travel a lot, “who need a high level of flexibility, want to be mobile without having to charge for a long time, or have no access to an e-charging infrastructure “. The number of hydrogen filling stations must of course be increased significantly. “The EU Commission wants a hydrogen filling station every 150 kilometers across Europe,” says Guldner confidently. The costs for the technology are also expected to drop steeply “because – unlike diesel – the technology for trucks and cars is the same”.
So we will still have to wait for hydrogen series vehicles from BMW – the time will probably be around the end of the decade.