BMW iX5 Hydrogen 2024 Review

The 2024 BMW iX5 Hydrogen fuel-cell electric vehicle (FCEV) is a prototype so it’s not actually for sale. No doubt, the cost to build each of the almost 100 examples based on the fourth-generation X5 luxury SUV roaming the globe is exorbitant.

BMW will make the call on a production green light within months. If given, the first saleable FCEV will likely be part of the next-generation BMW X5 range due in 2027. Multiple models would then follow in the 2030s.

BMW’s aim for FCEV is to achieve cost parity with an equivalent battery-electric vehicle, so that would equate in this case to the iX xDrive40 SUV that retails in Australia for $130,900 plus on-road costs.

Of course, that depends on BMW actually making a production FCEV freely available for sale. The Hyundai NEXO and Toyota Mirai are both described as production vehicles, yet they can only be leased and only then by selected customers.

The iX5 looks pretty much like a standard X5 externally, although the decals kinda give the game away including ‘LEFT HAND DRIVE’ stuck on the boot lid. It rolls on huge 22-inch staggered wheels with blue trims.

Inside, it’s standard X5. The screens all work, the climate control operates, leather-trimmed powered seats are standard, even rear seat and boot space are unaffected by having two hydrogen tanks sitting in place of the transmission and fuel tank underneath.

There are some more blue trimmings inside, as well as a couple of graphics identifying this vehicle as hydrogen-fuelled.

With no gears to change (the iX5 is single-speed), the paddle shifters on the chubby steering wheel now vary regenerative braking feel, while the fuel gauge in the instrument cluster reads in kgH2/100km rather than L/100km.

Fun fact, the fuel-cell stack sitting under the bonnet of the 2024 BMW iX5 Hydrogen is designed by Toyota and comes straight out of the Mirai.

BMW and Toyota have been working together on fuel cells for 10 years, so this is not a shock.

However, the e-motor, small (sub-5kWh) lithium-ion battery pack, power electronics and two carbon-fibre reinforced plastic (CFRP) tanks that store six kilograms of hydrogen under high pressure and at low temperature are BMW’s own work.

And that hints at the big story here. The powertrain’s 295kW output (torque unstated) makes the iX5 Hydrogen the most powerful hydrogen fuel-cell passenger car yet unveiled.

The way the FCEV process works goes like this: hydrogen gas and oxygen are fed into the stack separately and combine to produce electricity that drive the e-motor that drives the rear wheels. The only byproduct is distilled water. No nasty CO2 is emitted.

The battery is a key factor in the BMW version of the system, providing an additional 170kW on top of the stack’s 125kW.

The stack’s output keeps the iX5 lolloping around at low and steady throttle states. But when the throttle is pushed down the battery’s added kilowatts come into play.

The result is a strong electric car rush forward, accompanied (or not) by a soundtrack composed by Hans Zimmer. It’s quiet, smooth and impressively quick from a standing start. BMW claims a sub-6.0sec 0-100km/h time and that’s believable.

On the flipside, the iX5 Hydrogen claims a 504km WLTP range, which is pretty decent compared to a lot of BEVs, including the iX xDrive40 that claims up to 420km.

BMW’s learned from its work with hybrids to ensure the small battery can cope with constant cycling from empty to full. However, a specific cell chemistry accounts for the impressive power output.

The battery does not store energy, that’s the job of the hydrogen tanks.

The regenerative effect is another way the iX5 Hydrogen varies from a typical X5. While the actual amount of energy being clawed back under braking is always the maximum the system judges appropriate, the driver can vary the regen feel from little to a lot via the paddles, or go to single-pedal driving by pulling the gearshift lever into B (for brake) mode.

Otherwise, this car feels on the road pretty much like a normal X5, even if this one is rear-wheel drive rather than the usual all-wheel drive. There are Eco, Comfort and Sport drive modes to cycle through, progressing from stultified to generous to strong in their responses.

Fitted with air suspension, the iX5 handles neatly and rides nicely despite its massive rubber and substantial weight. BMW didn’t cough up exact numbers, but it’s around the same as an X5 xDrive 50e plug-in hybrid, so about 2500kg.

However, given our assessment is based on a single driving lap and a couple of passenger laps of the Lang Lang ride and handling circuit, it’s hard to be too definitive apart from being impressed by just how complete the hydrogen powertrain seems.

Given hydrogen also refuels less messily than a petrol or diesel car and at about the same speed – and therefore much faster than a BEV – and it’s range is not affected by climate extremes like a BEV, what’s not to like?

Well, if we like the BMW FCEV system itself then there’s a lot not to like about what surrounds it.

Cost right now for the 2024 BMW iX5 Hydrogen in the prototype stage is unobtanium and we only really have studies, promises and best guesses that will come down as economies of scale ramp up. If they ramp up.

Then there’s the lack of refuelling infrastructure, especially an issue in Australia where there are a mere handful of stations either in existence or proposed.

And then there’s hydrogen itself. It’s the most common element in the universe but you usually have to extract it from other gaseous, liquid or solid elements through refining.

At the moment, the vast bulk of hydrogen extraction is achieved using fossil fuels and therefore emits greenhouse gases including CO2. Currently, there is very little extraction of green hydrogen using renewable resources.

Even BMW’s own pilot fleet of iX5s at its headquarters in Munich are refuelled using grey hydrogen generated from natural gas.

As BMW itself points out, renewables are critical to both BEVs and FCEVs decarbonising road transport.

Look, the needle is moving in the right direction on all this stuff, but it’s glacial progress compared to what’s going on in with battery-electric vehicles.

Well, it’s a moot point, isn’t it. You can’t buy the BMW iX5 Hydrogen. And even if you could the infrastructure isn’t there to refuel it anyway.

But if some time in the future there is a production BMW X5 FCEV, if it is cost competitive against an equivalent BEV, if a refuelling infrastructure comes into existence and the hydrogen being supplied to that infrastructure is green hydrogen, then sure, why not?

Right now, though, like the Toyota Mirai and Hyundai NEXO we’ve also driven in recent years, the BMW iX5 Hydrogen is a rolling billboard for a great powertrain technology stuck in limbo.

Come back and see us in five years.

2024 BMW iX5 Hydrogen at a glance:
Price: Not for sale
Available: Late this decade if approved for production
Powertrain: Hydrogen fuel-cell stack, single AC synchronous electric motor, power battery
Output: 295kW
Transmission: Single-speed with fixed ratio
Battery: Lithium-ion (less than 5kWh)
Range: 504km (WLTP)
Energy consumption: 1.19kg/100km (WLTP)
Safety rating: Not tested