In case you had any doubts, BMW is still betting on hydrogen. Big time. Against all odds, the iX5 Hydrogen is heading to production, even though many believe Munich is beating a dead horse. A new video breaks down the hydrogen-powered luxobarge, giving us a closer look at what makes it tick. And some of the engineering is genuinely clever.
BMW says the SUV can be refueled in less than five minutes, which is much quicker than plugging in an EV and waiting around. Once the tanks are full, the iX5 Hydrogen can travel up to 466 miles (750 kilometers). That’s impressive on paper, especially considering you’re still driving an electric vehicle. No combustion engine sits under the hood. Instead, a fuel-cell system converts hydrogen into electricity, which then powers the electric motors.
So, in a slightly weird twist, the hydrogen X5 is an EV that you don’t charge but refuel. The Hydrogen Flat Storage System is marketing jargon for those seven carbon-fiber-reinforced tanks that hold hydrogen at 700 bar. Rather than stuffing the tanks wherever they fit, BMW designed them to occupy the same area as the gigantic 141-kWh battery in the iX5. That makes the iX5 Hydrogen much easier to integrate into the existing X5 family.
The Fifth Element
And that’s important because BMW isn’t treating this as some completely separate science experiment. The hydrogen X5 shares its CLAR architecture with the rest of the family, allowing BMW to offer five different powertrains without fundamentally changing the vehicle’s proportions or practicality. Inside and out, it looks like a regular X5 or iX5, yet it carries multiple hydrogen tanks instead of a big battery or a combustion engine.
We’re told that all-wheel drive comes out of the box, so it’s reasonable to assume the iX5 Hydrogen will have a pair of electric motors as standard. It should behave pretty much like the battery-powered iX5, meaning instant torque and all the benefits of an EV. It won’t be a slouch either, as BMW is targeting a sub-five-second sprint to 62 mph (100 km/h).
Where To Refuel?
Of course, there’s an elephant in the room that the video doesn’t talk about. Hydrogen stations are nowhere near as common as gas stations or EV chargers in most markets. You can build the most impressive hydrogen vehicle in the world, but it isn’t particularly useful if there’s nowhere to refuel it. That’s the biggest hurdle the iX5 Hydrogen has to overcome.
Despite these major obstacles, BMW is one of the few automakers that still believes hydrogen has a future, along with its alliance partner in this push: Toyota. The iX5 Hydrogen is expected to go on sale later this decade, possibly around 2028. Meanwhile, the first order of business is to roll out the six-cylinder gas and diesel models (X5 40 and 40d), two plug-in hybrids (60e and M60e), the battery iX5 60, and two V8 models (X5 M60 and X5 M).
First published by https://www.bmwblog.com
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