Swindon & Wiltshire News
BMW joins the hydrogen gang, rolling out a fleet of eco-friendly iX5s
BMW has joined the relatively short list of manufacturers with hydrogen-powered passenger cars on the road.
The firm announced this week that it was launching a fleet of under 100 vehicles internationally “for demonstration and trial purposes for various target groups.”
Oliver Zipse, BMW’s chairman of the board of management, said: “Hydrogen is a versatile energy source that has a key role to play in the energy transition process and therefore in climate protection.
“It is one of the most efficient ways of storing and transporting renewable energies, and the missing piece in the jigsaw when it comes to emission-free mobility.
“One technology on its own will not be enough to enable climate-neutral mobility worldwide.”
The BMW iX5 Hydrogen, based on the current iX5, was first unveiled as a concept at the IAA show in 2019.
The vehicle was built at BMW Group’s Research and Innovation Centre in Munich using hydrogen fuel cells developed by Toyota.
The iX5 Hydrogen has a top speed of 112mph, acceleration of 0-62 in under six seconds, and a range of 313 miles on a 6kg hydrogen fuel tank with a fill-up time of under four minutes.
