After four years of development work, the German automobile company BMW has presented its first hydrogen-powered car, the BMW iX5 Hydrogen. This year, 100 such cars will be released for demonstration and testing purposes.
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“Hydrogen is a versatile energy source that plays an important role in the transition to renewable energy and thus in promoting climate protection. Hydrogen is one of the most efficient ways to store and transport renewable energy and is the missing piece of the puzzle for climate-neutral mobility,” said Oliver Zipse, BMW AG” chairman of the board.
With 6 kg of hydrogen, it is possible to drive up to 504 km
The “BMW iX5 Hydrogen”, developed on the basis of the latest “BMW X5” model, was presented at the conceptual level for the first time already in 2019 at the largest and most important world mobility exhibition, the IAA. Similar to electric cars, this car also has an electric motor, but it is powered by hydrogen fuel cells using a chemical reaction between hydrogen and oxygen. When these elements chemically combine, two products are produced: electricity and water. The generated electricity is fed to the electric motor, and the resulting water is discharged into the environment through the outlet pipe.
This technology is not only sustainable because it does not pollute the environment while driving, but it is also able to provide the same driving comfort as modern electric cars, while ensuring fast refueling. The “BMW iX5 Hydrogen” has two hydrogen tanks that contain a total of almost six kilograms of hydrogen, which is enough to provide a range of 504 km according to the WLTP cycle. Filling up these two hydrogen tanks takes only three to four minutes.
“BMW iX5 Hydrogen” is able to provide up to 170 hp of continuous power, while thanks to the electric battery developed especially for this model in combination with “eDrive” technology, the maximum power can reach 401 hp. Thus, the car accelerates from 0 to 100 km/h in less than 6 seconds.
Last year, the BMW Group sold more than 215,000 fully electric cars worldwide, which is almost 108% more than the previous year. The company estimates that fully electric cars will account for more than 50% of its total sales by 2030 at the latest.
Sustainable aluminum production
“BMW Group” emphasizes that climate-friendly mobility cannot be achieved only by increasing the number of electric cars on the roads. Therefore, it is important to also reduce the environmental impact of the car manufacturing process and increase the reuse of virgin materials in car manufacturing by exploiting the potential of recycled materials.
“BMW Group” pays special attention to reducing CO2 emissions in the production chain. One of the areas the group focuses on is aluminum production. It accounts for about a quarter of the CO2 emissions in the production chain of a medium-sized electric car.
For this reason, from 2024, BMW plans to use aluminum in car production, which has significantly lower CO2 emissions than aluminum used in standard car production. That’s why BMW has signed an agreement with Rio Tinto’s aluminum plant in Canada, which uses renewable electricity to produce aluminum. In addition to the fact that the production process uses green energy produced by hydroelectric power plants, the company also uses innovative metal smelting technology that produces oxygen instead of CO2. Compared to traditionally produced aluminum, this approach allows to reduce the CO2 emissions generated in the aluminum production process by 70%.
In addition to the cooperation with the “Rio Tinto” factory, the “BMW Group” also implements improvements in its factories. For example, in Landshut, the BMW Group’s only light metal casting plant in Europe, a unique aluminum casting process is used that produces virtually zero emissions. In addition, the production of aluminum from 2021 uses solar energy and about two-thirds of the aluminum used in the factory comes from the recycling cycle.
“BMW Group” has committed to use at least 50% recycled materials in the production of new vehicles and to observe other circular economy principles in the production process.
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