BMW is going to build a small series of a very special X5 this year. It concerns the iX5 Hydrogen, an electrically powered X5 with a fuel cell on board that converts hydrogen into electrical energy.
As early as 2019, BMW showed the i Hydrogen Next, an early prototype of an X5 with a fuel cell, with which the brand gave a clear signal: BMW is also going to use hydrogen. BMW is releasing photos of the final production version of the i Hydrogen Next, a car that will henceforth be referred to as the iX5 Hydrogen.
BMW says it is currently doing the final winter tests with the iX5 Hydrogen and that is of course why you see the hydrogen X5 in a snowy environment in these photos. The iX5 Hydrogen is being put to the test in Arjeplog in northern Sweden and has yet to be produced in a small series this year.
The BMW iX5 Hydrogen has two storage tanks, which together are good for the storage of about six kilograms of hydrogen. The system power of the iX5 Hydrogen is 374 hp, making the SUV only slightly less powerful than the plug-in hybrid X5 xDrive45e, which kicks it up to 394 hp. A major advantage of a car that uses hydrogen is the speed with which you can provide the electrically powered car with new zest for life. According to BMW, the two tanks can be filled with hydrogen in about four minutes, although you must of course be able to find a hydrogen station. In addition, the iX5 does not have a huge battery pack on board, which of course saves the necessary kilos. BMW will announce detailed technical data at a later stage. BMW is already hinting at the possibility of carrying hydrogen cars under its i-label on a larger scale. Thanks to this iX5 Hydrogen, we already have a good indication of what those models will be called.
BMW Hydrogen 7 (2006)
Interesting: BMW has joined Toyota for the development of the iX5 Hydrogen, with whom it has had a partnership since 2013. Toyota has been at home in hydrogen country for years with the Mirai and various Japanese projects. Incidentally, the iX5 Hydrogen is not the first BMW car to use hydrogen. In 2006, the brand already introduced the Hydrogen 7, a prototype of a then current 7-series (E65) with the 6.0 V12 of the 760i. That twelve-cylinder liked both petrol and hydrogen and was therefore a hydrogen car of a completely different kind than the iX5 Hydrogen.
– Thanks for information from Autoweek.nl