BMW Believes Hydrogen Cars Play An Important Role In Future Sustainable Mobility

BMW iX5 Hydrogen. (Doc. BMW)

JAKARTA - BMW and a number of other car manufacturers from Toyota, Hyundai, and Honda are now not only focused on pure electric cars but instead sees great potential for hydrogen energy as a sustainable mobility future.

In the company's release, Thursday, March 21, BMW said and understood that not all countries have infrastructure that supports the use of pure electric cars. Therefore, they will continue to present vehicles with conventional engine technology but are also efficient to reduce CO2 emissions.

Interestingly, BMW is also active in the development and use of hydrogen cars as another alternative. This technology is expected to be increasingly in demand from the middle of this decade.

BMW has showcased its BMW iX5 Hydrogen prototype in 2023. The car uses high-power hydrogen fuel cells and optimized batteries. The hydrogen needed is stored in a special tank made from carbon fibered plastic (CFRP) under 700 bars. With 6 kilograms of hydrogen, BMW iX5 Hydrogen is able to cover a distance of 504 kilometers in the WLTP cycle.

Hydrogen filling is fast, only 3-4 minutes, so the long journey remains fun.

In addition, BMW is committed to achieving climate neutrality throughout its production chain by 2050 at the latest. They also apply a "secondary first" approach where recycled materials will be used more and more on NEUE KLASSE cars.

The BMW i Vision Circular introduced in 2021 is an illustration of the future of cars in 2040: made of recycled materials, renewable resources, and fully recycleable.

Meanwhile, the development of a hydrogen car by BMW is an attractive signal for the future of the automotive industry. Will hydrogen be a strong competitor to battery electric cars? We'll see in the future.