Hydrogen is the latest alternate energy source and it is not just a passing fad. This environmentally sustainable alternative to fossil fuels is here to stay and BMW is the latest in a string of automakers who have decided to invest in the development of hydrogen powered engines. The German manufacturer known for its range of sports cars is now shifting gears to dabble in the development of a fuel cell vehicle with great hopes of the first iteration being road-ready as soon as 2028.
BMW is switching lanes and joining its peers on the road to hydrogen powered vehicles
The luxury vehicle manufacturer is showing great determination to launch its first fuel cell powered vehicle within the coming years. The company’s attempt at achieving this has birthed a newly strengthened partnership between BMW and Japanese automaker, Toyota.
Toyota, — arguably one of the biggest manufacturers in the industry — is of the strongest belief that the future of the automotive industry will be hydrogen based. As such, the Japanese automaker has had several rollouts of the fuel cell system and is currently working on a third iteration which claims to hold its own when compared to diesel powered counterparts.
Parallel to this, the German automaker is playing around with technology in two zero emission trucks. A pair of Iveco S-eWay Fuel Cell trucks will be operated by BMW Logistics in Germany by means of trial run trips that will take place between Leipzig, Landsberg, and Nuremberg.
Additionally, Leipzig and Hormersdorf have each broken ground on the construction of hydrogen refueling stations. As such, the vehicles in these trial run trips will be able to operate more smoothly thanks to these refueling stations. These trucks will make use of rapid filling at the newly constructed refueling stations by means of large amounts of hydrogen being injected directly into its tanks.
The hydrogen refueling stations under construction in Leipzig and Hormersdorf are not the first of its kind for the German region. In fact, there are currently five hydrogen fuel stations located on the grounds of the Leipzig factory. These five stations are used to refuel over 200 forklifts and tugger trains which are used for internal plant logistics.
The first indoor hydrogen fuel station was actually inaugurated at BMW’s Saxony-based plant over a decade ago in Germany, 2013. The automaker also has plans slated for the Regensburg plant to switch over to hydrogen-fueled tugger trains and forklifts come 2026.
Is hydrogen the future for this German luxury vehicle manufacturer?
The two truck trial drive is just phase one of a bigger rollout of hydrogen trucks. BMW aims to produce a fleet of sixteen hydrogen trucks, the funding for which will be provided by the Clean Hydrogen Partnership. This project has been given the title of the H2Haul Project.
The aim of this H2Haul Project is to test cell fuel drivetrains in realistic scenarios, rather than hypothetical ones produced in a laboratory. Testing for these fuel cell trucks will take place across various European countries, beginning in Germany, as mentioned above.
Data studied from the initial trial runs will be used by the company in order to “develop the technology to market maturity and pave the way for a wide-scale introduction in the road freight sector.”
The next-generation X5 vehicle model will be used as a design base for the first BMW hydrogen vehicle available for customers to purchase. Additionally, the G65 model will be the first vehicle offered by the company that features “gasoline and diesel engines, plug-in hybrid drivetrains, a battery-powered EV, and a hydrogen variant.”
A pilot program for the iX5 Fuel Cell test vehicles has already taken place by using the current X5 “G05” model — these vehicles are not available for sale, however.