Department of advanced development for several years, BMW has been addressing the issue of creating a car that runs on hydrogen, but the final decision about the release of a production model to the market has not yet been agreed. This information was provided by the Autocar company's Vice President of sales and marketing, Ian Robertson; He explained that in the best case, vodorodomobil′ will be produced in limited series based on the future BMW i5, but overall the Bavarians are banking on battery electric vehicles.
According to Robertson, the first batch of test hydrogen-powered cars was built in 2007 year: then 100 units of BMW 7-Series with a 6.9-liter V12 were converted into hydrogen and sent to long term road tests. Prototypes developed 256 BHP power and were dispersed up to 100 km/h in 9.5 seconds.
Current development work is being done in close cooperation with Toyota, so if hydrogen i5 still appears, then it becomes technical clone Toyota Mirai. It's not that we can or can not design, says Robertson, and whether sufficient infrastructure to make the hydrogen project profitable.
While the issue remains open, BMW continues to vigorously work on improving battery life: to replace lithium-ion come innovative lithium-air and solid. Ten years on issues such as the time of charging and power reserve will not excite motorists — sure Robertson. What exciting opportunities!