BMW closes in on FCEV production decision

Two BMW prototype fuel-cell electric vehicles (FCEVs) have landed in Australia just months before the German luxury car-maker decides whether it will enter production with its first hydrogen-fuelled EV.

The two X5-based BMW iX5 Hydrogen SUVs are part of a fleet of almost 100 prototypes spread around the globe for testing and promotional duties.

They are scheduled to be in Australia until the end of 2024. By then BMW should have decided whether it will green-light an FCEV for production.

“The first car we’re getting ready to have the possibility to do that towards the end of this decade, but we haven’t made that decision yet,” Dr Juergen Guldner, general manager of the hydrogen program for the BMW Group, told carsales at a closed-road test drive of the iX5 Hydrogen yesterday (June 24).

Guldner positioned the iX5 Hydrogen in the same role as the battery-electric (BEV) MINI E and BMW Active E pilot fleets that were rolling testbeds ahead of the first BMW EV, the i3, which was released in 2013.

The plan, if signed off, would have the first BMW FCEV on sale before the end of the decade, before multiple models with FCEV powertrains roll out in the 2030s.

“The rollout [of multiple models] could be in the first half of the [next] decade or it could be later,” Guldner said.

“That really depends on how the first model is received, if the [refuelling] infrastructures are really growing, or continue to grow at the speed we are seeing at the moment.”

However, unlike the i3 which was a standalone model, Guldner said BMW would only add FCEV as a further powertrain choice to existing model lines.

This is also a different strategy to fellow hydrogen advocates Toyota and Hyundai, which respectively have the standalone Mirai sedan and Nexo SUV in production.

“We would integrate it into an existing car,” confirmed Guldner. “The technology fits into an existing vehicle platform.

“So why make a standalone car where you invest a lot of money in the car? We like to focus on the powertrain and getting the fuel-cell powertrain right and integrating it into an existing car without the extra cost of developing a whole new car around it.

“It’s not needed in this case, it’s just another electric powertrain.”

Guldner also made it clear the X5 wasn’t the only potential choice for the first production BMW FCEV, even though it houses the prototype.

“We decided on this type of vehicle for the pilot fleet because the technology actually fits into the car and there is no compromise in the interior of the car.

“It’s one of those things that we have to decide which car to use [for production]… we have several models in the line-up.

“Our range is all the way from the Rolls-Royce to the MINI. We’ll start from the top somewhere, not from the Rolls-Royce, but we’ll start from the top.”

That suggests X7 and X5 SUVs and the 7 and 5 Series sedans could be in the frame. That would help amortise cost of the FCEV powertrain, which is still more expensive than its battery-electric equivalents.

But Guldner expressed confidence that FCEV costs would come down to a commercially viable level: “If you can’t get there it’s not worth starting, but we do see a good prospect of bringing it to a level that this is a sellable product.

“We think we can get it on par [with BEVs].”

Producing a combined 295kW, the iX5 Hydrogen is the most powerful FCEV in the passenger vehicle segment. It stores 6kg of hydrogen at high pressure in two tanks and converts it into electricity in a Toyota-sourced fuel-cell stack via a chemical reaction.

BMW claims a sub-6.0sec 0-100km/h acceleration time, a top speed of 180km/h and 504km range for the iX5 Hydrogen.

Compared to BEVs, FCEVs have the advantage of refuelling at about the same rate as combustion-powered cars and their range is not as impacted by climate extremes.

However, while EV recharging is only as far away as the nearest plug, the refuelling infrastructure for FCEVs is almost non-existent in Australia and is only slowly developing in most other countries.

That’s a key reason why BEVs dominate the EV landscape and why so few car-makers are working on FCEVs.

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