BMW’s hydrogen efforts go way back to the late Nineteen Seventies with a prototype based mostly on the first-generation 5 Sequence Sedan. The E12 within the 520i specification stored its inside combustion engine however it was modified to run on liquid hydrogen. A brand new video from BMW Group Traditional presents us a uncommon take a look at the 520h developed in collaboration with the German Aerospace Analysis Institute.

You possibly can think about it was far much less sensible than the gasoline-fueled 520i of these days as a result of the hydrogen tank occupied a lot of the trunk house. The tank needed to be specifically insulated to guard the hydrogen and retailer it for so long as attainable at a temperature of -250 levels Celsius (-418 levels Fahrenheit).

Whereas later hydrogen BMW prototypes have been engineered to run on each gasoline and hydrogen, the 520h used solely the latter.  Apparently, we additionally get to see a black 7 Sequence E23 from 1980 with a hydrogen tank good for 300 kilometers (186 miles) of vary. The video takes us on a tour of the opposite check autos, together with the E32 7 Sequence 735i from 1988 with a greater structure for the reason that hydrogen tank didn’t eat as a lot into the cargo space.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nSob-Jwij4U

Then the 750hL comes alongside within the video as a particular E38 from 2000 with a hydrogen-fueled V12 engine producing over 200 horsepower. Solely 15 vehicles have been ever made, and these had a high pace of greater than 143 mph (230 km/h). The 5.4-liter engine produced 204 horsepower and ran on gasoline and hydrogen, masking 250 miles (402 kilometers) with a full 140-liter hydrogen tank earlier than switching to fuel.

The most well-liked of the lot is certainly the BMW Hydrogen 7 from 2006, based mostly on the 760Li (E65). It too had a V12 engine, dialed to 260 horsepower. It was sufficient punch for a 0 to 62 mph (100 km/h) run in 9.5 seconds and an electronically capped high pace of 143 mph (230 km/h). The “world’s first hydrogen-powered luxurious saloon automotive” because it was referred to as again within the day had 125 miles (201 kilometers) of vary from the liquid hydrogen tank holding 8 kilograms of gas. The 74-liter gasoline tank offered an additional 300 miles (483 kilometers) of vary.

We additionally get to see the 2004 H2R Document Automobile with its 6.0-liter V12 engine borrowed from the 760i. The carbon fiber-bodied machine set 9 world information: flying-start kilometer, flying-start mile, standing-start 1/8 mile, standing-start quarter mile, standing-start half kilometer, standing-start mile, standing-start 10 miles, standing-start kilometer, and standing-start 10 kilometers. It had 232 hp on faucet, giving it a 0-62 mph (0-100 km/h) dash in 6 seconds and a high pace of 187.62 mph (301.95 km/h).

With the iX5 based mostly on the current-generation X5 luxurious SUV, BMW remains to be pursuing hydrogen know-how. In late 2022, BMW Group chairman Oliver Zipse promised: “On this decade there shall be a viable product from BMW with hydrogen. You will notice that. We consider in hydrogen for a lot of causes. We consider that – and I’m talking now from the BMW aspect however that finally ends up being for each model within the Group – if you wish to trip emissions-free and also you don’t have a charging station, that is the one risk we now have.”

Supply: BMW Group Traditional / YouTube