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BMW with fuel cell: iX5 Hydrogen runs on hydrogen - but fans are likely to be disappointed

2023-02-27T12:33:50.330Z


With the iX5 Hydrogen, BMW is putting its first fuel cell car on the road. But it will still take some time until series production.


With the iX5 Hydrogen, BMW is putting its first fuel cell car on the road.

But it will still take some time until series production.

Munich - Most Western car manufacturers, including Mercedes and the Volkswagen Group, are banking on batteries as the drive technology of the future.

BMW, on the other hand, does not want to rely entirely on it.

With the SUV iX5 Hydrogen, the Munich-based company now has a vehicle on the road after a long period of development that is purely electrically powered, but does not have to be charged.

BMW iX5 Hydrogen: initially only 100 vehicles will be built

As the name suggests, the energy for the electric motor in the BMW iX5 Hydrogen does not come from a battery, but from a fuel cell.

This converts the hydrogen from a high-pressure tank into electricity in a chemical reaction.

The only exhaust gas produced is water vapour.

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The BMW iX5 Hydrogen will initially only come onto the market in a small series

© Tom Kirkpatrick/BMW

So far, the Asian manufacturers Toyota, Honda and Hyundai have been using the technology in series.

With BMW, the first German manufacturer is now jumping on this bandwagon, but initially only on a very small basis, probably to the disappointment of many BMW fans.

According to the manufacturer, only around 100 of the new model will be tested in fleets worldwide and used by end customers.

  • Characteristics BMW iX5 Hydrogen

  • Drive: fuel cell drive with electric motor

  • Continuous electrical output of the fuel cell system: 125kW/170PS

  • Maximum battery power (Li-ion technology): 170 kW/231 hp

  • Battery capacity: 10 kilowatt hours (kWh)

  • Maximum power of the highly integrated electric drive unit: 295 kW/401PS

  • Hydrogen tank capacity: 6 kg hydrogen (gaseous)

  • Acceleration 0-100km/h: < 6s

  • Top speed: over 180 km/h

  • Consumption of hydrogen according to WLTP: 1.19 kg/100 km

  • Range according to WLTP: 504 km

  • Price: currently not for sale

BMW iX5 Hydrogen: the car is to be mass-produced in the second half of the decade

According to BMW, the iX5-Hydrogen has the most powerful fuel cell used in passenger cars to date.

It has an output of 125 kW/170 hp and, together with a backup battery, enables an engine output of 295 kW/401 hp.

This accelerates the vehicle from zero to 100 km/h in less than six seconds.

At around 180 km / h it should be over.

With a full tank, the range should be over 500 kilometers.

Filling up with six kilograms of hydrogen can be done in just three to four minutes.

The small test fleet is just the beginning.

"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 BMW Board Member for Development Frank Weber.

Until then, only technical details would have to be optimized and costs further reduced.

BMW's goal is to achieve price parity with battery-only vehicles.

BMW and the hydrogen drive: potential supplement for pure battery drive

For BMW, hydrogen is an important energy source in vehicle construction and is seen as a potential supplement to pure battery drive.

"As a versatile energy source, hydrogen will play a key role in the energy transition and thus in climate protection," says BMW CEO Oliver Zipse.

Because this is one of the most efficient ways to store and transport renewable energies.

"Hydrogen is the missing piece of the puzzle for emission-free mobility, because a single technology will not be enough to enable climate-neutral mobility worldwide."

Top 10: The ten most popular cars in Germany

Top 10: The ten most popular cars in Germany

Development of the BMW Group: Sales of all-electric cars have doubled

In total, the BMW Group sold around 215,000 all-electric vehicles worldwide in 2022, double the figure for the previous year.

The share of fully electric vehicles in the total sales volume was almost nine percent last year.

This proportion is to be increased to 15 percent in 2023.

By 2030 at the latest, the BMW Group wants to achieve more than 50 percent of its sales volume with fully electric vehicles.

Rubric list image: © Tom Kirkpatrick/BMW

Source: merkur

All news articles on 2023-02-27

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