BMW could have mass-produced hydrogen-powered cars on the road by 2020
Ronan Glon June 12, 2015
BMWs recently-formed i sub-brand currently focuses on building electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids, but company executives have all but confirmed a hydrogen-powered car is on track to join the lineup by 2020.
BMW is not new to hydrogen-powered cars, and it has been dabbling in the technology since it launched the experimental Hydrogen 7 (pictured) in 2005. Powered by a 6.0-liter V12 engine capable of running either on hydrogen or gasoline, the sedan was essentially ready for mass production but BMW chose to only build about 100 examples because the technology was still in its infancy, and the infrastructure was nowhere near ready.
Company engineers are now using data gathered from the pilot program to fine-tune the technology, but a spokesperson has confirmed BMWs first-gen hydrogen drivetrain will not find its way to a mass-produced car. However, its second-gen drivetrain which will be developed in the coming years with input from industrial partner Toyota will be brought to market, most likely in a vehicle that will join the i sub-brand...
MORE: http://www.digitaltrends.com/cars/2020-bmw-hydrogen-car-news-specs-rumors/
Related: Germany's first hydrogen filling station on the autobahn opens
As part of the Clean Energy Partnership (CEP), Daimler, Linde and TOTAL have jointly taken an important step forward in the expansion of Germanys hydrogen (H2) infrastructure. In the presence of Dorothee Bär, Parliamentary State Secretary at the Federal Ministry of Transport and Digital Infrastructure, Germany's first motorway hydrogen filling station was officially inaugurated today.
The new H2 filling pump at the TOTAL motorway service area in Geiselwind on the A3 between Würzburg and Nuremberg links the existing filling facilities in the metropolitan regions of Frankfurt/Main, Stuttgart and Munich with each other, forming a hub for electric fuel cell vehicles in southern Germany...
MORE: http://media.daimler.com/dcmedia/0-921-657589-1-1810149-1-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0.html
Around the world: H2 is #1