BMW kickstarts production of fuel cell systems for iX5 Hydrogen

BMW’s production of hydrogen fuel cell systems for its upcoming iX5 Hydrogen model has commenced at its site in Munich.

It comes ahead of a small series of iX5 Hydrogen models being used for road testing later this year. Created at BMW’s competence centre for hydrogen in Munich, the system combines a hydrogen fuel cell with an electric motor and high-performance battery. Two large tanks are used to store the hydrogen, with this entire setup being housed within the existing X5 platform.

Oliver Zipse, chairman of the board of management of BMW AG, said: “As a versatile energy source, hydrogen has a key role to play on the road to climate neutrality. And it will also gain substantially in importance as far as personal mobility is concerned.

“We think hydrogen-powered vehicles are ideally placed technologically to fit alongside battery-electric vehicles and complete the electric mobility picture.”

The individual fuel cells required for the BMW iX5 Hydrogen are supplied by Toyota, following a collaboration between the two on fuel cell systems that started in 2013. These individual cells are then assembled into a stack, while all remaining components are fitted to create a complete system. In total, the iX5 Hydrogen produces 369bhp and has already been tested extensively, with low-temperature demonstrations taking place in Sweden at the start of the year.

Zipse added: “By commencing small-scale production of fuel cells today, we are demonstrating the technical maturity of this type of drive system and underscoring its potential for the future.”

It is unclear whether BMW will move to full-scale production of the iX5 Hydrogen, having only committed to a small series run for the time being.