BMW recently conducted the final winter test of its iX5 hydrogen energy model before mass production, according to BMW officials, this hydrogen energy SUV based on X5 uses fuel cell technology jointly developed with BMW and Toyota, and can also ensure that the performance is not discounted in a test environment of minus 20 degrees.
According to the technical information currently revealed, the car is based on the iNext Hydrogen released by BMW in 2019, using the front and rear dual motor layout, the motor can basically be regarded as the same i4 and iX, and the maximum system power can reach 375 horsepower. It is equipped with dual 700 Bar hydrogen fuel tanks, which are located in the position of the conventional X5 transmission and can store up to 6 kg of hydrogen fuel.
In terms of styling, BMW has adjusted some details of the iX5 hydrogen energy version, mainly in the use of blue elements on the body parts such as grille and front surround, and these "small" parts are mostly 3D printed parts, so it can be speculated that bmw currently has no plans for mass production of the car. In fact, BMW did say that it will start small batch production later this year, and whether it will officially promote the car in the future depends on the actual market reaction.
In addition, the iX5 Hydrogen Energy Edition uses aerodynamically optimised wheels, as well as optimized energy-efficient tires. Adjustments have also been made in terms of steering, suspension and brake kinetic energy recovery, according to BMW Engineering, the weight of the new car is much lower than that of pure electric models, so the elastic elements of the entire suspension need to be adjusted to maintain the original BMW driving pleasure.
BMW does not currently give the iX5 hydrogen energy version of the range, but made it clear that the car's mileage will be "very long", in fact, the biggest problem facing such cars is not the mileage, but the convenience of hydrogen fuel filling, although it only takes a few minutes to fill 6 kilograms of hydrogen fuel, but if the filling station does not, everything is empty talk. This is the biggest restriction on hydrogen fuel models, Toyota's MIRAI has not been able to solve this pain point, in a short period of time, BMW should not be able to solve. Moreover, the price of fuel cell models will not be too friendly.