KEY POINTS
- BMW is one in all a number of automotive corporations exploring the potential of hydrogen.
- Different producers which have dipped into the hydrogen gasoline cell market embody Toyota and Honda.
The BMW Group has began to check autos that use a hydrogen gasoline cell drivetrain, with the German automotive big placing the expertise by way of its paces “in on a regular basis situations on European roads.”
In an announcement Wednesday, the agency defined prototypes of the BMW i Hydrogen NEXT could be examined on a variety of metrics together with reliability, security and effectivity.
It described hydrogen gasoline cell tech as having the “long run potential to complement inner combustion engines, plug-in hybrid methods and battery-electric autos.”
The expertise may, BMW went on so as to add, “change into a horny different to battery-electric drive trains – particularly for patrons who do not need their very own entry to electrical charging infrastructure or who ceaselessly drive lengthy distances.” It’s hoped the checks will result in the manufacturing of a small-series mannequin in 2022.
The autos’ particular person cells are supplied by Toyota, with BMW creating the gasoline cell stack and full drive system. The BMW i Hydrogen NEXT’s hydrogen tank could be crammed in three to 4 minutes, the corporate says, offering drivers with “a variety of a number of hundred kilometres in all climate situations.”
Described by the Worldwide Vitality Company as a “versatile vitality service,” hydrogen has quite a lot of purposes and could be deployed in sectors resembling trade and transport.
BMW is one in all a number of automotive corporations exploring the potential of hydrogen and isn’t new to the concept of utilizing it in a car.
Again in November 2006 it introduced manufacturing of the BMW Hydrogen 7 had began, describing the car as “the world’s first hydrogen-powered luxurious saloon automotive.” The Hydrogen 7, it added, used an inner combustion engine and was in a position to run on petrol (gasoline) or liquid hydrogen.
Extra not too long ago, on Tuesday Jaguar Land Rover stated it was working on the prototype of a hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicle, with testing of the idea slated to begin later this yr.
The car will likely be primarily based on the brand new model of the corporate’s Land Rover Defender, and is a part of JLR’s broader try to satisfy a goal of zero tailpipe emissions by the yr 2036. Testing will concentrate on areas resembling gasoline consumption and off-road capabilities.
Different producers which have dipped into the hydrogen gasoline cell market embody Toyota and Honda, whereas smaller corporations resembling Riversimple are also working on hydrogen-powered cars.
This week additionally noticed Volvo Automobiles announce it will accomplice with SSAB, a Sweden-headquartered metal producer, to “collectively discover the event of fossil-free, prime quality metal to be used within the automotive trade.”
In line with Volvo Automobiles the collaboration will, amongst different issues, concentrate on an SSAB initiative known as HYBRIT, which was established alongside vitality enterprise Vattenfall and LKAB, which produces iron ore.
The HYBRIT venture’s objective, Volvo Automobiles says, is to “substitute coking coal, historically wanted for iron ore-based steelmaking, with fossil-free electrical energy and hydrogen.”