The 2015 Innovation Days witnessed the grand revelation of BMW’s first hydrogen powered cars: a customized BMW 5 Series GT, a prototype, and i8. Innovation day is an amazing event that BMW uses for exhibiting its new technologies and will be coming down to floors in coming years. The fuel – cell electric vehicles was one of the most interesting ones that BMW showcased this year. BMW entered in a partnership with Japanese legendary car maker Toyota a few years back. Toyota was too focused over hydrogen based fuel cells while BMW centered all its energies and resources over electric motors, batteries, and hydrogen tanks. The two auto giants together worked on a single standard platform to come up with amazing hydrogen FCEVs. The idea was to work on few related factors like consumer adoption, hydrogen refueling stations, safety, reliability, and so forth.
Toyota has already showcased its FCEV called Mirai last year. The vehicle is expected to strike roads by end of this year with a price tag of $57, 500. The pricing of BMW 5-Series GT FCV is yet to be revealed but it is for sure it will not go easy on pockets. The e-motor for this one has been derived from the two BMW electric cars i8 and i3 and has a capacity to yield power worth 245hp. The fuel tank is cryogenic that can take pressure up to 350-bars easily and it will have a capacity to cover 300 miles in one go. But the important question is about the refueling stations, whether they will be there on way or not.
In a quick look, hydrogen powered cars are considered as the best ones with respect to environment and pollution. Unlike other hybrid power trains, hydrogen fuel cells are free from any kind of emission and when hydrogen and oxygen get together they only produce electricity and water. The efficiency of hydrogen fuel cells is way higher than other kind of internal combustion engines. The only thing to look forward is to what car makers do about installing refueling stations. It is not easy to store hydrogen both in vehicles as well as filling stations. Also, hydrogen cells are much more expensive than other kind of conventional fuel types including electric vehicles. If these minor obstructions are overcome, there will be a large scope for hydrogen powered vehicles in our world.
