You won’t find a test car like this on your doorstep every day: It’s a white BMW X5, of which there are thousands – although more often in grey, silver or black – are in circulation in Germany. However, a few touches of blue, typical of the electric subsidiary BMW i, and, above all, the attention-grabbing foil, underline that this is not a typical X5 equipped with a six-cylinder diesel or hybrid rechargeable.
First of all, this is not a detailed analysis of the sustainability of the drive concept over its entire life cycle, nor the comparison between the “well to wheel” emissions of a fuel cell car and those of a battery electric vehicle. This would go beyond the scope of a conduct report. That’s why the focus here is on the driving experience. How can you travel with a fuel cell car in Germany today with the current infrastructure, what is the cost, and what are the strengths and weaknesses of the concept and the iX5 Hydrogen from the point of view of customer view? After driving the car for over 500 miles, we came to a conclusion.
The structure of the vehicle is simple: the fuel cell is located under the hood, in the “engine compartment”, and is based on Toyota components. The Japanese company supplies the cells, while the cell and overall system were developed in-house by BMW – in fact, the automated research facility for manufacturing the fuel cells was funded by another government grant German.
The larger of the two hydrogen tanks is located in the cardan tunnel, lengthwise, while the smaller one is located widthwise, under the rear seat. The electric motor, which uses BMW’s “fifth generation” technology, i.e. the separately excited synchronous motors also used in the iX, i4 and i7, is located on the rear axle. The battery, which serves as a power buffer, is located between the electric motor and the trunk floor.
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How does a five million euro prototype drive?
The fuel cell has a power of 125 kW, which is sufficient to cover energy needs at constant speed. In the event of brief power peaks, additional energy is drawn from the battery, which is continuously recharged by the fuel cell without the driver noticing. BMW has opted for an electric motor with a power of 295 kW. Indeed, the iX5 Hydrogen must retain the dynamism that customers expect from a BMW. With an acceleration time of less than six seconds to 100 km/h, it can meet this requirement, but die-hard BMW fans may disagree considering its top speed of 180 km/h. h.
But how does a five million euro prototype drive? Honestly, she’s surprisingly sweet and very mature for a “prototype”. Brake, press the start button, select a gear like an automatic and off you go: quiet, comfortable and powerful on demand, with the equivalent of 401 hp. While you could still hear the whine of the fuel cell at full charge in the first-generation Toyota Mirai, for example, the BMW is as quiet as a battery-electric car. The evolution of technology is noticeable.
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I never doubted that BMW would deliver a properly developed and well-tuned vehicle with the iX5 Hydrogen. The German manufacturer has been cooperating with Toyota on hydrogen technology since 2013 and has already tested fuel cell prototypes based on the 5 Series GT before the iX5 Hydrogen. BMW has even more experience with hydrogen, at that time still for combustion engines. And serial models with electric batteries have long proven that developers can come up with electric drives. The iX5 Hydrogen performs exceptionally well. The prototype is only visible in details. In the fuel consumption indicators on the screens, the “kgH2/100km” representation without a space looks a bit odd; after all, diesel or gasoline are not added in the case of combustion engines. And there may be some driving error messages, especially after a hot start or refueling – but BMW indicated in preparation for the test drive that we could ignore them.
However, the decisive aspect for (potential) customers is the infrastructure – just like in the early days of battery-electric mobility. Where can you get the hydrogen? What does it look like on long journeys when you leave the radius around your familiar gas station near home? And what about the range in general?
That’s why we set off with the iX5 Hydrogen on 800 kilometres of motorways and country roads. When we left Düsseldorf, the fuel level was around 80 per cent, according to the on-board computer, and the range displayed was 357 kilometres – BMW has opted for a fuel gauge similar to that of a combustion engine and not a percentage display, as is often the case with battery-electric cars. The first, admittedly conservatively planned, refuelling took place in Limburg an der Lahn. The next refueling station was in Wiesbaden, which would have meant a slight diversion from the originally planned route – and if (for some reason) the refueling process had not worked, the detours to Frankfurt would have been even longer. If it doesn’t work in Limburg, Wiesbaden would be Plan B – that’s what I thought. I didn’t want to go straight to the limit at the first hydrogen refueling stop in a few years. Just as battery newcomers are not used to driving to the charging station for the first time with a range remaining in the single digits.
Refueling in Limburg did not pose any major obstacles. Although the user experience could be improved (you must first authorize payment at a terminal on the far right of the image using the H2 Mobility card and a PIN, then connect the fuel gun to the vehicle and finally start the refueling process at the terminal using a green button), the actual refueling took place without problems. After five minutes and ten seconds the tank was full again – initially it was still around 35% full. We will come back to the costs of the refueling processes later in an overall calculation.
But it also showed that the five-minute rapid refueling process wasn’t a real benefit. In fact, we don’t have time to go to the toilet or buy a coffee while refueling. As with the combustion engine, you must therefore first refuel, then park and take a break. The time between leaving the highway and returning is similar to that of a modern electric car. Of course, the break is shorter than with an older electric car with a charging time of 30 or 40 minutes, but EVs have made significant progress in this area in recent years.
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With a BEV, a second stop would not be necessary
With the tank full and the on-board computer showing a range of 429 kilometers, we set off for the next stage. And there, as with battery electric cars eight years ago, things get complicated. Even if the actual range was slightly less than that indicated by the on-board computer, we would have reached our destination with 429 kilometers, although the tank was relatively empty. However, there is no H2 refueling station near our destination. We therefore had to plan a second “safety” refueling stop on the way out in order to have enough hydrogen for the first leg of the return trip. Unlike the battery electric car, the fuel cell iX5 Hydrogen cannot be recharged at its destination, either through a power outlet or a wall charging station.
The iX5 Hydrogen requires some manual planning, which is likely due to its prototype status. The H2 Mobility app is integrated into the infotainment and can be used to find hydrogen refueling stations and retrieve certain information – including the address, which can be transferred directly to the navigation system as a destination. However, refueling stations are listed based on distance from the current location. So you should know roughly where the gas stations are along your route, because the list contains all possible locations in all directions. For a later production model, as BMW plans for the end of the decade, it should be possible to integrate a route planning system similar to the software used in battery-electric cars.
Back to our trip: in this case, the H2 gas station in Bad Rappenau was a logical choice, close to the highway, on the site of a car depot. When I first checked the route in the H2 Mobility smartphone app a few days before the trip, I had a bit of a shock: three gas stations in a row on my route (Wiesbaden, Bad Rappenau and Fellbach near Stuttgart) were out of service due to maintenance work. On the bright side, I at least had freshly serviced refueling stations for the trip, which worked pretty reliably. On closer inspection, three consecutive out-of-service aid stations would have left me stranded if I had gone without a plan. Fortunately, we didn’t get to that point.
After just 182 kilometers, the tank was already quite empty at the finish – for the purposes of the test, we sometimes drove a little faster than the recommended speed on the highway, because many diesel X5s also drive at over 130 km/h on open highways. Therefore, after refueling in Bad Rappenau, the on-board computer only showed 314 kilometers of range, taking into account the latest average consumption. I also saved time during this refueling compared to the battery electric car: refueling and getting back on the road took less than ten minutes, including the waiting time at the red light. But we can also see things another way: As I could have recharged an electric car at my destination, this refueling/charging stop would not have been necessary because I could have arrived with zero kilometers of range remaining. So ten minutes wasted.
But one thing is certain: the remaining 75 kilometers to the destination were no problem with a full tank. The next day, the hydrogen fuel from Bad Rappenau lasted to the Limburg station, 330 kilometers. The 255 kilometers back to Limburg were particularly economical. The consumption indicator for this section was 1.3 kilograms of hydrogen per 100 kilometers.
To complete the test, we planned a final refueling stop in Ratingen, shortly before the destination of Düsseldorf. While the stations in Limburg and Bad Rappenau are designed as stand-alone hydrogen refueling stations, the pump in Ratingen is integrated into an existing Shell filling station. The refueling process is slightly different here, as there is also a rotating fuel gauge with a classic nine-segment display. However, the refueling itself went smoothly. We didn’t have to wait at any of the fueling stops or have another fuel cell vehicle directly in front of us, which could have resulted in a short wait until the fueling station added enough of hydrogen.
The chapter on fuel consumption will follow shortly, but we can already say a little more: After the 157 kilometer stage, we refueled with 3.01 kilograms of hydrogen for 50.42 euros. If we had traveled this distance with a Tesla Model
We noticed considerable variations in consumption and autonomy during the test, depending on the speed. In relaxed motorway driving, at 130 km/h or the current speed limit, it is between 1.3 and 1.4 kg/100 km. In the most economical case, we had a range of 492 kilometers according to the display after refueling to 100%. On the other hand, if we increase the cruising speed of the iX5 Hydrogen and drive at the speed of an X5 diesel on an open highway, the on-board computer only indicated a range of 314 kilometers after refueling. Consumption was then more in the region of 1.8 to 1.9 kilograms – and with a maximum of six kilograms in the tank, 300 kilometers is a realistic range. In practice, it’s even a little less if you want to avoid going to the gas pump with an empty tank.
No great reserves of autonomy
During our test, the on-board computer showed an average consumption of 1.4 kilograms over 855 kilometers, or a calculated range of 429 kilometers for a full tank. The BMW states an ex-works consumption of 1.6 kilograms over 13,891 kilometers, which reduces the range to 375 kilometers. Around 400 kilometers on average, almost 500 with an economical driving style and rather 300 with a sporty driving style – these are figures that a battery-powered BMW iX xDrive50 can also achieve. We were therefore unable to capture this greater autonomy of fuel cell cars; in fact, the iX5 Hydrogen is comparable to its BEV competitors. But this also means that there are no large reserves, for example for energy-intensive operations such as towing a trailer. The load of a trailer was not recorded for the prototype anyway, but this could change for a production model.
As mentioned above, we would hardly have been slower with an iX xDrive50 on our test route; the time advantage of the shorter refueling process is not so great on longer journeys. However, with an iX – similar to the Model X – we would have been significantly cheaper in terms of energy costs, as the bill shows. At the first refueling in Limburg, we paid 49.55 euros for 3.52 kg. In Bad Rappenau, we filled up with 4.06 kg for 72.07 euros. This was the only refueling process at 17.75 euros per kilogram. At the other stations, the price was 16.75 euros. On the way back, we refueled again in Limburg, this time with 4.56 kg for 76.38 euros. Then again in Ratingen. There we filled up with 3.01 kg for 50.42 euros.
The BMW iX xDrive50 would not be slower, but cheaper
That makes a total of 248.42 euros in refueling costs. The conversion to the 855 kilometers we drove is not possible because the vehicle was not 100% filled at the start of the route. We therefore use the average consumption: with our test consumption of 1.4 kg/100 km, this would be 23.45 euros per 100 kilometers or 200.50 euros for 855 kilometers. With the ex-works consumption of 1.6 kg/100 km, this is 26.80 euros per 100 kilometers or 229.14 euros for our test route, if we take as a basis the cost of 16.75 euros per kilogram, which is the more typical price for hydrogen at 700 bar.
For comparison, according to
spritmonitor.de, The BMW iX consumes an average of 23.7 kWh/100 km (at higher speeds, a consumption of around 30 kWh/100 km is also possible, without a doubt). With 24 kWh/100km, even with the ad hoc Ionity price, the cost per 100 kilometers is only 16.56 euros – or 144.59 euros for our test route. With the ‘Ionity Passport Power’, the cost is 9.36 euros per 100 kilometers and 92.01 euros in energy costs – this amount already includes the monthly fee of 11.99 euros. Without this fee, you get 4.78 kilograms of hydrogen for 80.02 euros, which is enough to cover 341 kilometers in our consumption test. And not 855 kilometers. Furthermore, the supposed advantage of fuel cell cars of being lighter than heavy battery-electric cars does not apply to the iX5 Hydrogen. The registration document indicates a curb weight of 2,570 kilograms and a permissible gross vehicle weight of 3,150 kilograms. It remains to be seen what the optimization potential would be if a vehicle were systematically designed as an FCEV from the outset and if the components were not all installed in a combustion engine. What is clear, however, is that with a curb weight of 2,585 kilograms and a gross vehicle weight of 3,145 kilograms, an iX xDrive50 is on the same level, give or take a few kilograms. So, as with the range, it can be said that the battery can already do what the fuel cell promises. Conclusion
To answer the question posed in the title: I’m not convinced enough by the iX5 Hydrogen to see a future for hydrogen cars in Germany and Europe (and, honestly, the rest of the world). There are also problems in the vehicle, for example the space required for the many components. With today’s technology and a bit more advanced, I don’t see a small and affordable fuel cell car like battery electric cars currently have. Huge progress should be made in terms of efficiency. Until then, fuel cell cars will remain as big and heavy as BMWs. The technology simply requires a lot of space. It works, but is not suitable for mass production. In addition, it is expensive.
Two points in particular do not convince me about the hydrogen ecosystem in cars: the refueling technology and the infrastructure. The basic laws of physics clearly state how many kilograms of hydrogen can be stored per cubic centimeter at a specific temperature and a certain pressure (in our case, 700 bar). In the iX5, the two pressurized tanks take up an enormous amount of space. Further development of the tanks could perhaps make them a little cheaper and lighter, but there is nothing that can be done about their size at a pressure of 700 bar. The tank has to be larger if I want to store more hydrogen in a car to increase the range. A higher energy density is possible with a higher pressure, for example, but this puts more strain on the tanks and requires a completely new infrastructure. It is also possible to switch to another type of storage, such as cold liquid hydrogen at -253 degrees (sLH2), favored by Daimler Truck for its fuel cell truck. But this also requires new infrastructure and poses other challenges, especially for passenger cars.
Then there is the infrastructure itself. Hydrogen fueling stations are complex, require a lot of maintenance and are expensive (even compared to an HPC fleet including a transformer). In late 2023, BMW CEO Oliver Zipse said fuel cell technology was “the missing puzzle” in regions where charging infrastructure for electric cars is insufficient. His recent visit to China and Japan reinforced this idea. I also see the challenge of direct electrification of cars, trucks and buses in the booming megacities of some developing countries whose electricity grids are already overloaded – or vehicles simply necessary in remote areas of China or , for example, in the villages of the Peruvian Andes. However, I wonder if the complex technology of fuel cells and hydrogen refueling stations in these regions will provide the solution when, even in Germany, refueling stations are sometimes out of service for several days for maintenance work .
It is also obvious that the vehicles are difficult to market at the current cost level. Toyota all but admitted in November 2023 that the Mirai was far from a commercial success. Only 22,000 vehicles have been sold worldwide since 2014, which would likely not have covered the development costs of two generations of the vehicle. Current hydrogen prices in Germany – or even California, where they recently reached $30 per kilogram – aren’t exactly an advertisement for fuel cell cars. The German automaker has yet to reveal the cost and size of a possible fuel cell-equipped BMW series vehicle.