- BMW believes there is life left in hydrogen propulsion systems
- The iX5 Hydrogen will enter production in 2028
- Engineers say it is a true BMW X5 without compromises
BMW is pressing ahead with its Neue Klasse range of electric vehicles, which already includes the i3 which will serve as the next-generation electric version of the popular 3 Series, as well as the more conventional SUV form of the iX3.
Building on this range, BMW is also preparing the next version of its 5 Series, starting with an all-new X5.
The iX5’s sleek bodywork has already been photographed by several spy photographers, but the German brand has officially revealed that it plans to produce a variety of powertrains on the same production line, including pure electric, plug-in hybrids and… hydrogen.
Article continues below.
Despite the extremely low levels of adoption of fuel cell vehicles, which promise the same fill times as conventional combustion engines with nothing but water emitted from exhaust pipes, BMW feels there is still life in the technology.
So much so that its engineers have come up with a novel way of packaging the system so that seven 700-bar high-pressure hydrogen tanks sit flat next to each other and form part of the powertrain.
According to its designers, the unique configuration combines the fuel cell system and the brand’s latest high-voltage battery design, in addition to having the Heart of Joy chassis and transmission control software, as well as BMW Dynamic Performance Control, which has received great plaudits on the iX3.
“Think of it as a Tetris installation: each customer gets the powertrain that best suits their needs and a real BMW
Additionally, the intelligent design of the hybrid system means it does not impede interior space, while the 7kg of stored hydrogen can be filled in less than five minutes and provide up to 600 kilometers of emissions-free driving when fully filled.
BMW says it will introduce the Hydrogen model to its iX5 range by 2028.
Analysis: Hydrogen still has serious deficiencies
Reading through BMW’s hydrogen announcement to the end reveals that the project has been co-financed by the state of Bavaria to the tune of €82 million, while Germany’s Federal Ministry of Transport is adding another €191 million to hydrogen research projects.
Often praised as the perfect middle ground between battery electric vehicles and combustion engines, thanks to its fast refueling times, hydrogen has largely failed to find an audience, with only select markets, such as South Korea, continuing to pursue the technology.
In fact, research by the UK Energy Research Center found that battery electric vehicles outsold hydrogen fuel cell models by 1,000 to 1 at the time of writing in 2025, and that more Ferraris were sold each year than all makes and models of fuel cell vehicles combined.
This is further compounded by a clear lack of infrastructure, with press releases celebrating the fact that there were over 1,000 service stations worldwide by the end of 2024, although over 50% of them are located in Asia.
Europe has about 200 stations, while in the US there were only 89 stations at last count. It’s clearly not a popular option and despite a lot of development work by companies like Toyota and Hyundai, it’s still a slow option.
Even though industry experts and policymakers in Germany clearly believe that hydrogen should still play a role in tomorrow’s energy mix, battery electric vehicle technology is accelerating at a pace that cannot be ignored.
With several Chinese brands now demonstrating that electric vehicle charging times can take as little as five minutes, it seems counterintuitive to invest in the infrastructure needed to create a reliable hydrogen refueling network.
What’s more, research has shown that hydrogen production involves serious carbon emissions unless it is done using green energy sources, such as wind or solar.
The UK Energy Research Center concludes in its analysis that even if green hydrogen could be produced with zero emissions, each megawatt-hour of clean electricity used to produce hydrogen is one less that could replace coal or gas in the electricity grid, or be used to power electric vehicles.
Follow TechRadar on Google News and add us as a preferred source to receive news, reviews and opinions from our experts in your feeds. Be sure to click the Follow button!
And of course, you can also follow TechRadar on YouTube and tiktok for news, reviews, unboxings in video form and receive regular updates from us on WhatsApp also.
