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BMW iX5 Hydrogen: small series on the market from November
Whether Mercedes-Benz, VW or Audi: they all rely on e-mobility for the future.
BMW is also investing in the hydrogen car.
With fuel cells from Toyota, the group wants to put the BMW iX5 Hydrogen on the road in a small series from November.
CEO Oliver Zipse said that a "real series offer" is already being examined.
“It will definitely be within this decade.
The sooner, the better,” says Zipse.
For drivers, the hydrogen car offers advantages in everyday life that are familiar from petrol or diesel engines: quick refueling and long ranges - even in the cold.
But the big question is whether there is enough green hydrogen and what it all costs.
For the industry expert Stefan Bratzel, "the high energy consumption for the production of hydrogen" is the decisive argument against this type of drive.
Producing hydrogen with electricity, then using a fuel cell to generate electricity from the hydrogen again for the electric motor - a large part of the energy is lost there.
Fuel cells come from Toyota
Despite the project, e-mobility will also dominate the future at BMW.
By 2030 at the latest, every second BMW should be battery-powered.
But in view of the increasingly scarce raw materials for the batteries on the one hand and insufficient charging networks on the other, Zipse does not want to put everything on one card.
Hydrogen is "the missing piece of the puzzle that e-mobility can complete where battery-electric drives will not prevail," he said.
So far, the fuel cell has been considered a possible environmentally friendly drive for the future, especially for heavy buses or trucks.
They are designed for long distances and energy-intensive tasks - and there are no long charging times, as with electric cars.
However, there are only a few hydrogen filling stations in Germany.
A network has to be set up for trucks anyway, but the network would have to be much denser for cars.
There is even a lack of e-charging stations in many places.
Toyota and the Korean carmaker Hyundai are already selling cars with fuel cells, albeit in manageable numbers.
The Chinese car manufacturer Changan has just started series production, and Opel has a fuel cell van on offer.
Mercedes-Benz discontinued its fuel cell SUV two years ago.
However, Daimler is developing fuel cells together with Volvo and wants to bring a truck onto the market with it in 2025.
Porsche, Toyota, Mazda, Subaru, Kawasaki and Yamaha are working to burn hydrogen in gasoline engines.
BMW can also supply the fuel cells for the iX5-Hydrogen from Toyota.
They are assembled in Garching and installed in Munich with the hydrogen tanks and the in-house electric motors in the bodies that come from the US plant in Spartanburg.
The 100-vehicle pilot series will not be sold, but will be tested by motorists in everyday use in Europe, the USA, Japan, Korea and China.
In five years, BMW could then be ready for mass production, provided the market cooperates.
A quick ramp-up is not feasible, says Bratzel.
“We're talking long periods of time.
That won't help us over the cliffs of the next few years«.
And "it's an expensive affair," said the head of the CAM Auto Institute in Bergisch Gladbach.
apr/dpa
