BMW iX5 hydrogen fuel cell vehicle first test in China, BMW electrification takes "other leg"

After the BMW iX5 hydrogen fuel cell vehicle pilot fleet opened the road test in Antwerp, Belgium in March this year, the fleet of nearly 100 vehicles has been shown and tested in Europe, Japan, South Korea, North America and other places around the world, and now the BMW iX5 hydrogen fuel cell vehicle pilot fleet has come to China. On October 18, the BMW iX5 hydrogen fuel cell vehicle held a test drive event in Beijing, and this unique BMW model was opened to the Chinese media for road testing for the first time.

The Economic Observation Network reporter saw from the test drive site that the characteristics of the BMW iX5 hydrogen fuel cell vehicle are distinct, and there are blue elements used to show the identity of hydrogen fuel cell vehicles in positions such as the hood, grille, gear handle and welcome pedal. In the core power system part, the car is not equipped with a simple power battery, but a hydrogen fuel cell system and hydrogen storage tank.

Because hydrogen and oxygen react chemically to produce only water, hydrogen energy is considered to be the "ultimate clean energy" and has been used in many industrial fields, hydrogen fuel cell technology also plays an important role in the automotive field. At present, whether on the policy side or the market side, hydrogen fuel cell vehicles have been promoted. However, hydrogen fuel cell systems are still more used in commercial vehicles, and there are not many passenger cars such as BMW iX5 hydrogen fuel cell vehicles.

The BMW Group is fully promoting the electrification transformation, pure electric vehicles are the focus of its strategic layout, and hydrogen fuel cell vehicles are an important supplement. BMW has 40 years of R&D accumulation in the field of hydrogen power, and the current iX5 hydrogen fuel cell vehicle has been developed after four years of research and development, created by BMW and Toyota technical cooperation, and is a rare hydrogen fuel cell passenger car from luxury brands in the industry.

At present, the development of hydrogen fuel cell vehicles is still constrained by factors such as infrastructure, hydrogen production, storage and transportation industry chain, and cost. The current testing of the BMW iX5 hydrogen fuel cell vehicle fleet is to verify the adaptability of the model in different regions, collect feedback from users, and prepare for future mass production.

Hydrogen fuel and pure electric fusion drive

Driving a BMW iX5 hydrogen fuel cell vehicle is similar to the feeling of driving an electric vehicle, its starting acceleration and mid-way acceleration are quite fast, and the power output is direct. Judging by the parameters, the car accelerates to less than 6 seconds per 100 km.

The BMW iX5 hydrogen fuel cell vehicle is set up with a single-pedal driving mode, which switches the gear to B gear to come to this mode, and the vehicle can slow down until it stops after releasing the accelerator during driving, and recover energy synchronously. In order to simulate the driving experience of a fuel vehicle, the car also provides engine sound simulation sound effects, switching to sport mode can clearly hear the "roar" as if the engine is working.

The hydrogen fuel cell outputs electrical energy, so the vehicle still uses electric drive, which determines that the BMW iX5 hydrogen fuel cell vehicle has a sense of power output similar to that of pure electric vehicles. However, in daily use, due to hydrogenation rather than charging, the BMW iX5 hydrogen fuel cell vehicle can be filled with hydrogen in 4 minutes and have a range of more than 500 kilometers, while not shrinking due to seasonal and temperature changes, so its convenience is no less than that of fuel vehicles.

It is understood that the BMW iX5 hydrogen fuel cell vehicle has two 700 bar pressure hydrogen storage tanks made of carbon fiber reinforced composite materials, which can hold a total of nearly 6 kg of hydrogen.

The ingenuity lies in the fact that the BMW iX5 hydrogen fuel cell vehicle not only powers the drive motor through the hydrogen fuel cell system, but also has a power battery above the motor to provide additional assistance to the motor. The reason why the vehicle has good acceleration performance is thanks to the blessing of this power battery.

On the whole, the BMW iX5 hydrogen fuel cell vehicle not only achieves the power performance of mainstream electric vehicles, but also has the convenience of general fuel vehicles, while being completely clean in terms of emissions. Its power system actually integrates hydrogen fuel cell drive and power battery drive, with a comprehensive output of 295 kilowatts, of which high-performance fuel cells can continuously output 125 kilowatts of electric energy.

BMW's hydrogen power research and development history

BMW has a long history in the research and development of hydrogen energy power systems, and first launched the first hydrogen-powered research vehicle, the BMW 520h, in 1979, which has a history of more than 40 years. BMW also has more than 20 years of experience in the research and development of hydrogen fuel cell technology, and first developed its own fuel cell in 1997.

In 2006, the BMW Hydrogen 7 Series Concept became the world's first hydrogen-powered luxury high-performance sedan. In 2015, BMW launched the BMW 5 series GT hydrogen fuel cell vehicle based on hydrogen fuel cell technology.

Today's BMW iX5 hydrogen fuel cell vehicle was established in 2019 and took four years of research and development. In 2019, BMW made its world premiere at the Frankfurt Motor Show with the BMW i Hydrogen NEXT hydrogen fuel cell concept. In June 2021, BMW began full-scale testing of the BMW iX5 hydrogen fuel cell prototype on European public roads in a real-world environment. In 2021, the BMW iX5 hydrogen fuel cell vehicle made its debut at the Munich Motor Show. In September 2022, BMW started small-scale production of high-performance hydrogen fuel cells in Munich. This year, the BMW iX5 hydrogen fuel cell vehicle pilot fleet began road tests in many places around the world.

The fuel cell system and vehicle itself for BMW hydrogen fuel cell vehicles are developed and produced by the BMW Group, while the fuel cell cells are purchased from Toyota. In 2013, BMW and Toyota began to jointly develop hydrogen fuel cell drive systems. In 2015, the BMW 5 Series GT hydrogen fuel cell fleet used a hydrogen fuel cell drive system jointly developed by the two companies. In 2016, BMW and Toyota signed a product development cooperation agreement to develop scalable modular components for fuel cell drive systems and hydrogen fuel cell vehicles for future mobility.

BMW is not just developing hydrogen fuel cell vehicles, but is already considering the future mass production work. Dr. Juergen Guldner, Head of Hydrogen Fuel Cell Technology and Automotive Project at BMW Group, said: "BMW has a separate design solution and solution for hydrogen fuel cells, and the power drive system part is a common architecture solution, and in the future, this mature technology will be shared between different technology paths, including internal combustion engine vehicles, pure electric vehicles, and hydrogen fuel cell vehicles. ”

BMW electrification "walking on two legs"

BMW iX5 hydrogen fuel cell vehicle combines hydrogen fuel cell drive and power battery drive, and the raw materials used in its power battery are only 10% of that of ordinary pure electric vehicles, which reflects BMW's comprehensive thinking on electrification and carbon neutrality.

BMW is fully promoting electrification, and it expects all-electric models to account for 50% of BMW's global sales by 2030. At the 2023 World New Energy Vehicle Conference in Munich in September, BMW announced that the new generation of models, which will start production in the second half of 2025, will include not only pure electric architecture, but also other new energy architectures.

Other energy architectures referred to here refer to plug-in hybrid and hydrogen fuel cell power, and BMW adheres to the multi-technology route in order to achieve the goal of "carbon neutrality" and zero emissions by 2050. BMW believes that there is currently no single solution that can meet the all-round travel needs of global customers, and that future mobility will coexist with different drive systems, and hydrogen fuel cell vehicles are an important supplement to electric drive systems.

The electrification of the automotive industry is not a one-way street, and various technical categories such as pure electric, hybrid, extended range electric, and hydrogen fuel cell coexist in the current car market. BMW's choice of pure electric and hydrogen fuel cell solutions is not only due to its years of research and development in the field of hydrogen power, but also sufficient technical demonstration factors.

At present, there are many doubts about hydrogen fuel cell vehicles in the industry, including their low energy conversion efficiency, high price, insufficient infrastructure and so on. From the technical principle, hydrogen fuel cells need to convert hydrogen energy into electrical energy to drive the vehicle, which does have energy loss.

However, BMW believes that if the source of electricity in some regions changes, such as the use of photovoltaic power generation and electrolysis of water to produce hydrogen, the overall energy loss will not be very high. Secondly, in terms of energy replenishment, the overall efficiency of the mixed construction of charging piles and hydrogen refueling stations will be higher than that of simple development of charging piles. In addition, the price of hydrogen fuel cell vehicles will decrease as the scale gradually increases.

"Hydrogen fuel cells have actually become the second largest global standard for zero-emission mobility solutions, and there is a lot of room for further large-scale development in the future, and the same technical solutions can be used from passenger cars to commercial vehicles, as well as aviation, ships, maritime and other fields." The opportunity for such large-scale development is very large, so it is also something that we are very concerned about. Dr. Juergen Guldner said.

From a worldwide perspective, companies that have invested in the development of hydrogen fuel cell passenger vehicles include BMW, Toyota, Hyundai, as well as China's Geely, Great Wall, Changan, Chery, GAC and many other car companies. BMW is one of the few premium luxury car brands that develops hydrogen fuel cell vehicles, which is expected to form a competitive differentiation for its electrification in the future.