Electrified driving is the right thing for now, but going forward hydrogen carries a lot of advantages when it comes to overall sustainability, Adam Shaver contends.

BMW’s enthusiasm for hydrogen has progressed to creation of a fuel cell X5 – and while that vehicle isn’t on the radar for New Zealand, the brand’s top man here can see the potential.

“I do believe there are better long-term solutions than electrified driving,” says Adam Shaver, BMW Group NZ managing director, in response to the latest head office programme.

“I think electrified driving is the right thing for now, but going forward hydrogen carries a lot of advantages when it comes to overall sustainability.”

It’s also a reminder that the whole future of motoring is a much thing that simply a break away from fossil fuels, foremost with electric – which BMW has invested heavily into, and now delivers with a growing spread of NZ-market cars – but also inevitably into other considerations.

“It’s not just about emissions that come out of the tailpipe … or don’t.

“It’s about the overall 360 degree approach to sustainability, from how you source your materials, how you choose your suppliers, how you source the power to run your factories, how much of a car can be recycled, how much of it IS recycled. Do you have recycling partners in different countries, and so on …

“It’s a much bigger issue than just emissions. That’s an important piece of the puzzle, but also a tiny piece.”

Similar comment has come from BMW’s overall boss, chief executive officer Oliver Zipse, who says the point of hydrogen is not to create a replacement for electric vehicles.

They’re two similar powertrain technologies that complement each other.

Electricity is best suited to smaller cars, Zipse believes, while hydrogen is better for bigger vehicles, especially those that regularly embark on long trips, while towing.

Achieving a real-life impression of what that’s about is why BMW has created the iX5; ostensibly a concept but one in volume – around 100 examples are being built.

The Germans are as well-versed in working the fuel they call ‘wasserstoff’ as the other leading proponents – Honda, Toyota and Hyundai Group.

In 2005, BMW ran the Hydrogen 7, a 7-Series limousine equipped with a 191kW, 6.0-litre V12 modified to burn hydrogen (it could also run on petrol). This writer drove it for a day in Berlin.

It worked well, but wasn’t efficient and the engine wasn’t 100 percent emissions-free. Overall, it reinforced a known truth: That hydrogen fuel cells are a much better technology.

Why not just stick with pure electric? One word: Range.

A hydrogen-electric car requires a much smaller battery pack than a comparable EV, offers the same amount of driving range regardless of the outside temperature, and it can be refueled as quickly as a petrol-burning model.

In recent amalysis of the iX5, America’s AutoBlog website says the car’s drivetrain is complex in the sense that the electricity that fires the rear wheels into motion is generated onboard. It likened this to the wood gas generators that were common across Europe in the aftermath of World War II, or “like if BMW built a gasoline-powered X5 with a miniature oil refinery stuffed into the engine bay.”

On the other hand, the site suggested, no-one needed a master’s degree in chemistry to understand how it works.

“Gaseous hydrogen enters the two, 700-bar tanks via a filler integrated into the passenger-side quarter panel, in the same place where you find the fuel filler in a gasoline-burning X5. From there, it goes to the fuel cell under the hood where it reacts with oxygen from the air to create electricity. The water vapor emitted by this process gets released into the atmosphere, while the electricity generated travels through thick, orange wires to a roughly 2-kWh lithium-ion battery pack mounted under the trunk/boot floor, right over the electric motor.”

The fuel cells come from Toyota, and appear to the same type used in the latest generation of the Japanese brand’s Mirai fuel cell car – the swoopy sedan you might see in Auckland, where it is being trialled by some partners. The motor is from BMW’s large electric sports utility, the iX.

AutoBlog says it’s too early to predict the drivetrain’s reliability and longevity, but BMW already warned that parts like the storage tanks will need to be replaced after 15 years – it’s a legal requirement in numerous countries.

The make cites the system’s total output at 299kW, and the roughly 2.4 tonne iX5’s driving range checks in at up to 504 kilometres when tested on the WLTP cycle used in Europe. Standing start to 100kmh takes six seconds. Refilling tanks with around 6kg of hydrogen - the maximum they can carry - takes three to four minutes.

The iX5 is rear-wheel-drive because, as it’s kitted, there’s insufficient space under the bonnet to add the second electric motor required for all-wheel-drive. It’s on the to-do list.

Some of the cars will be used as demonstrators – BMW notably needs to convince lawmakers about hydrogen is a viable alternative to electric technology – while others will be loaned to a handful of real-world motorists, for a couple of weeks a time.

Whereas Mirai is specifically designed for hydrogen, the iX5 is just any X5 – save it has styling cues: Blue accents, an “i” emblem in the grille, new-look wheels, “hydrogen fuel cell”-branded sill plates, some blue trim, plus redesigned graphics in the instrument cluster and infotainment system. But mostly it gets noticed because of the vinyl graphics plastered over the body.

Conceivably, the car could survive in New Zealand. This is a big year for hydrogen. The Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment is set to release before Christmas a roadmap to set Government objectives for hydrogen, and its potential to reduce emissions and maximise economic benefits.

This will inform the New Zealand Energy Strategy, which is due to be finalised by the end of next year, and explore steps to use hydrogen to help reach the goal of a net zero emissions economy by 2050.

Currently, Hiringa is working on a green hydrogen refuelling network with Waitomo Group, set to come online in Auckland, Palmerston North, Hamilton and Tauranga initially. More than 24 stations are expected across the next four or five years.