Inside BMW’s safe, smooth and fast iX5 Hydrogen SUV that refuels in 4 minutes and emits water
IT baffles me why our government still ignores the H word – hydrogen.
They’re telling us we all have to buy electric cars.
Seemingly oblivious to the fact they’re expensive, don’t go very far, and it’s a pain to charge them on the go.
I get that the world’s on fire and we need to do something about it.
But electricity isn’t going to do it on its own.
We need a multi-energy solution and hydrogen and e-fuels are an essential part of that mix.
Hydrogen is zero-emissions and refuels as quickly as petrol and diesel. And it doesn’t lose range when it’s brass monkeys outside. Unlike electric cars.
Take the gaffer at BMW, Oliver Zipse.
BMW is way further down the road with electric cars than anyone else. It makes everything from an electric Mini to an electric Rolls-Royce, all of them class-leading, and sold 250,000 EVs last year.
H-word is key to a zero-carbon future
But even he’s saying hydrogen has a key role to play if we’re serious about achieving net zero.
Zipse said: “Hydrogen is the missing piece in the jigsaw when it comes to emission-free mobility. One technology on its own will not be enough to enable climate-neutral mobility worldwide.”
Other governments in Europe are taking it much more seriously and have ordered hydrogen filling stations every 120 miles along every major route by 2030.
Yet over here we have no policy in place.
All we hear is: Buy an electric car, sorry about the lack of chargers.
Apart from anything else, how do you expect a ten-ton truck full of washing machines to get from Dover to Dundee running on Duracell?
Hydrogen is the answer for trucks and vans. But also for cars doing big miles and towing things.
Which brings me nicely to today’s test car.
It looks like a BMW X5, drives like a BMW X5 and has a classy cabin like a BMW X5.
Because that’s exactly what it is. a thoroughbred BMW X5.
Except it runs on hydrogen and emits only water. So how does it work?
This iX5 prototype uses a fuel cell system to combine hydrogen from two high-pressure storage tanks (holding almost 6kg of gaseous hydrogen) with oxygen from the surrounding air.
The cell generates electricity for the car’s electric drive motor and charges the tiny 2kWh battery pack.
The result is a family SUV that’s safe, quiet, clean, hovercraft smooth and fast. As in, 401hp fast.
It’ll do 313 miles in one go and refuels in about four minutes.
Recharging a battery car for the same amount of time would hardly get you to the next motorway junction.
We topped up near Heathrow — one of only five public filling stations across the UK, Germany has 105 — at a cost of £22 per kg of hydrogen. So it’s about £130 to brim it.
It would be easy to sit hydrogen refuelling tanks alongside existing petrol and diesel pumps in the short term.
BMW has been researching hydrogen-powered cars for almost 40 years, starting with a 745i Turbo, which used liquid hydrogen.
But engineers are now within reach of industrialising the fuel cell system, with a bit of help from Toyota, and hydrogen-powered Beemers could be on sale within four or five years.
A pilot fleet of iX5s are being tested across the world, much like the 2009 prototype electric Mini which led to the BMW i3.
Right now, Toyota will sell you a Mirai saloon. Hyundai will sell you a Nexo. Vauxhall and Ford and others are developing hydrogen-powered vans.
Because they all know electric vehicles won’t work for everyone everywhere and the H-word is key to a zero-carbon future.
Wake up, Rishi.
KEY FACTS: BMW iX5 Hydrogen
Price: £85k estimate
Engine: Hydrogen fuel cell
Power: 401hp
0-62mph: 6 secs
Top speed: 112mph
Range: 313 miles
Refuelling: 4 mins
CO2: 0g/km
HYDROGEN trucks and vans are a no-brainer for shifting heavy things a long way.
And that’s why Vauxhall will soon have two versions – Vivaro and the XL Movano.
Both refuel in minutes and have the same cargo volume as their diesel equivalents.
A Vauxhall spokesman said: “Despite a lack of infrastructure in the UK at present, many big companies we are speaking to are considering investing in their own refuelling stations at depots to reap the benefits that hydrogen can bring to LCVs.”
Toyota is transplanting the hydrogen fuel cell from a Mirai saloon into a Hilux pick-up truck.
The leg work is being done by engineers at Toyota’s Corolla factory at Burnaston, Derbys, and we’ll see the results next month.
ARE HYDROGEN CARS SAFE?
YES. Safer than petrol, say experts.
YES. Safer than pPetrol burns slowly and pools around a crash site. But hydrogen is 14 times lighter than air and dissipates upwards rapidly.
Manufacturers put hydrogen storage tanks through crush, bonfire, lightning and gunfire tests.