BMW fuel cell to suit i brand?

Hydrogen fuel cells do have a place in BMW's future after all. The announcement that BMW will acquire fuel cell technology from General Motors provides the necessary explanation for BMW's long-term alternative energy technology needs.

During the M5 international launch last year, motoring.com.au spoke with Piers Scott, the importer's Head of Corporate Communications about hydrogen fuel cells. Scott was not at liberty to discuss BMW's forward plans for the zero emissions drive system at the time, but the drive program for the new 3 Series on local turf delivered an opportunity for an update. As it turns out however, there's still not much to say. Hydrogen and fuel cells remain some years away for BMW, according to Scott.

"The focus is very much on electric drivetrain technology for the time being," he replied. "The i3 will launch in 2013. There is a need to put the spotlight on one clear technological direction... which is the introduction of electro-mobility, both in fully electric form and in plug-in hybrid form, with the i8. We've had a full hydrogen combustion engine concept in use — and demonstrated that we can work with hydrogen.

"Further down the track obviously there is an application for fuel cell [technology], but no timeframe or even confirmation that it's necessarily going into production for the time being."

While it's very early days yet, the question needed to be asked; would fuel cell drive systems be exclusive to BMW's i brand production cars, or would they power otherwise conventional cars? There are precedents for both — Honda's FCX Clarity was designed exclusively to be a fuel cell vehicle, but Mercedes-Benz plans to run its B-Class F-Cell down the same production line as conventional B-Class cars.

"Everything built under the BMW i brand is what we call 'born electric'," Scott responded, "so built from the ground up to accommodate that specific drivetrain technology. Obviously the needs where electric cars versus fuel cell are a little different, because when you have to carry the battery weight that those cars do, then it necessitates a very different vehicle design to get the weight down and as close to the road as possible — and to use materials like carbonfibre to offset some of that weight in the lighter bodyshell of the car.

"With fuel cell technology it's plausible that you could accommodate that within the architecture of our standard models. But again, it's all hypothetical for now, as it's not something we're close to bringing to market."

The 'born electric' catchphrase is misleading. It suggests that fuel cell technology is not 'electric' and therefore not in keeping with the i brand's missions statement. Yet fuel cells simply produce electricity, the vehicle itself is driven by an electric motor — so the fuel cell is 'electric' too. And BMW's own i8 (pictured), when that comes to market, will combine the old world technology of internal combustion to ensure the batteries on board remain charged at all times. That's way more 'mechanical' than a fuel cell.

"I don't think [i brand] precludes [fuel cell technology] at all, and wouldn't even go so far as to say that the i brand is exclusively electric," Scott says. "The i brand is the badge under which we will launch all of our sustainable mobility technologies... It's horses for courses where that's concerned.

"The only difference to that is the fact that our active hybrids, which is a bridging step to BMW i, are all under the standard BMW brand."

So it remains a three-way choice. BMW may package fuel cell technology for inclusion in its standard vehicles (including SUVs), it may offer fuel cell technology in a bespoke i brand design — or it may choose to do both.

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