BMW’s hydrogen world tour
Toyota’s Mirai fuel cell powers iX5 Hydrogen
Before battery EVs have managed to replace fossil fuelled vehicles, it seems that hydrogen is the new standard in drive technology.
BMW, a hydrogen pioneer 20 years ago, is bringing its iX5 Hydrogen on a world tour to promote the technology as it works toward developing a fuel cell hydrogen-powered vehicle range.
Developed in collaboration with Toyota, whose Mirai-sourced fuel cell stack provides the prototype with its electric power, the BMW iX5 Hydrogen can produce up to 295kW of motive power alongside a useful 504km of driving range (WLTP). A current-model fossil-fuelled X5 has a range of 800km.
Refuelling takes 3-4 minutes independent of high or low temperature extremes, unlike current BEVs.
Australian auto industry publication Go-Auto reports that BMW Australia has taken delivery of two iX5 Hydrogen
FCEVs (fuel cell electric vehicle) for local testing and events to demonstrate the everyday usability of hydrogen-powered transport.
The vehicles offer true zero-emission motoring unlike BEVs which are charged from the electric grid and thus use power generated from a range of sources including coal and natural gas.
They have covered thousands of kilometres of testing during drive programs in Europe, Japan, South Korea, China, the United States, the Middle East, and South Africa.
BMW says the global test program has been designed to gain important information and knowledge for the development of a series-production FCEV model.
Importantly, the iX5 Hydrogen also provides support on a regional level in Australia for the development of infrastructure that can be used with the model’s 700bar refuelling technology, which is common to many other hydrogen-powered cars, buses, trucks, and utility vehicles.
BMW says “the synergies between different areas of application also offer important scope for developing a strong network of suppliers in hydrogen technology and reducing costs.
“Hydrogen is the missing piece of the puzzle for emission-free mobility because one single technology will not be sufficient to make climate-neutral mobility possible throughout the world.”