Revealed: How BMW plans to make hydrogen affordable

A new modular hydrogen storage system for its next-generation Neue Klasse architecture is a key part of BMW’s strategy to reduce the cost of fuel-cell electric vehicles (FCEVs) to an affordable level.

Neue Klasse is only intended for EVs and it debuts in late 2025 under the second-generation BMW iX3 battery-electric mid-size SUV, which has been previewed as the Neue Klasse X.

Crucially in terms of cost, the storage system BMW is developing for Neue Klasse would allow EVs and FCEVs to be manufactured on the same assembly line and share much of their electrical systems.

As reported by carsales earlier this week, BMW is within months of deciding whether to green-light its first ever production FCEV for the public, with the intention of having it on sale before the end of the decade.

An expanding family of FCEVs would follow in the 2030s.

At the core of the Neue Klasse design is a modular undertray that would contain either new-generation round battery cells or cylindrical hydrogen tanks, essentially determining what sort of EV is being built.

“That would be the ultimate,” said Dr Juergen Guldner, general manager of the hydrogen program for the BMW Group.

“A lot of homework to do for us engineers to make hydrogen tanks to fit into that space.

“It’s underway, there are tank suppliers working on this.”

Guldner was speaking to Australian media this week at a briefing on BMW’s FCEV plans, which featured two iX5 Hydrogen prototypes that are in Australia for the next six months.

These modified X5 SUVs store 6kg of hydrogen in two large tanks that sit where the transmission and fuel tank would normally be.

This is the traditional storage solution for an FCEV. But the modular Neue Klasse platform requires a rethink and a cost cut.

“We can be really flexible with our production and make a battery-electric car by putting the battery in, or have the same electric motors and everything but put the hydrogen storage system in there plus the fuel-cell on top of the electric motor in the front and have a hydrogen car,” said Guldner.

Despite all this, there is still a strong chance the first BMW production FCEV won’t be based on Neue Klasse.

It’s been publicly stated that the vehicle will be a larger model toward the top end of the BMW range and will likely be all-wheel drive (for simplicity the iX5 prototypes are rear-wheel drive).

Currently, larger BMW EVs are based on modified versions of the same CLAR architecture as the internal combustion engine (ICE) and plug-in hybrid (PHEV) models alongside which they’re sold.

But from 2025, BMW EVs will start to transition to Neue Klasse.

The next iX3 is expected to be followed by five more Neue Klasse electric models before 2030. They include an i3 mid-size sedan, iX4 coupe-SUV and the next-gen iX1 small SUV.

But here’s the rub; the next X5 generation due in 2026-2027 is reportedly staying on CLAR. For the first time the range will include an EV, which means if the next X5 is also the basis of the first BMW FCEV, then it will be on CLAR as well.

That means the first Neue Klasse FCEV would follow later as part of BMW’s hydrogen powertrain expansion.

While the Neue Klasse modular system is clearly important in reducing FCEV prices closer to EVs, it’s not the only cost-cutting measure Guldner and his team are addressing.

“Everywhere,” he replied when asked where cost savings could be found in the FCEV system. “We have to work on all the components.

“That’s part of our homework to bring the cost down into I’d say the range [of EV].

“We [BMW] are into our fifth generation of battery-electric technology and this is our first generation of fuel-cell.

“So there is a little bit of catch-up work we have to do.”

How long will that take? Guldner cited a McKinsey and Company report that predicted EV-FCEV price parity by late this decade – by which time hydrogen fuel could also become more accessible.

“We see if we can get on par,” he said. “But of course it’s a moving target.”

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