While other premium manufacturers who used to tout their commitment to zero-emission mobility are changing their tune to extend the life of their ICE models as long as possible, BMW persists.

The company confirms again that the new BMW X5 will be the first model to offer customers a choice of battery electric, plug-in hybrid, petrol, diesel, and hydrogen fuel cell technology. BMW’s strategy is more ‘technology open,’ which gives customers a choice, but also adds cost, manufacturing complexity, and supply chain complexity.

How to cope with this complexity?

How are they going to cope with this? BMW has been investing in modular platforms, such as CLAR and the upcoming ‘Neue Klasse,’ which can accommodate multiple drivetrain layouts (ICE, PHEV, BEV). This avoids designing a totally separate chassis for each variant and spreads costs across them.

BMW has already retooled factories like Spartanburg in the US, Dingolfing in Germany, to handle mixed production: EVs, ICEs, and hybrids on the same line. Hydrogen will be a niche product when the iX5 Hydrogen hits the market in 2028, so they’ll probably produce it in smaller volumes, piggybacking on existing lines with limited changes.

This is what Joachim Post, Member of the Board of Management of BMW AG, said at a BMW event in New York: “By launching the new BMW X5 with a choice of five drive system variants, we are once again demonstrating our leading position as a technology pioneer. Hydrogen has an essential part to play in global decarbonisation, which is why we are committed to driving the technology forward.”

Expanding the fueling station network

As well as developing the new BMW iX5 Hydrogen, BMW is also actively involved in efforts to expand the hydrogen refueling network. The HyMoS (Hydrogen Mobility at Scale) initiative was established to support hydrogen ecosystems for mobility “in cooperation with industry and institutional partners”, especially in metropolitan areas.

There is no publicly disclosed complete list of all ‘industry or institutional partners’ in HyMoS. BMW is involved in hydrogen-ecosystem projects beyond HyMoS, such as H2Haul (fuel cell trucks pilot), together with partners like Iveco, DHL, and TEAL Mobility. However, that is more focused on logistics than on passenger car refuelling infrastructure.

As of the end of 2024, Europe had about 294 hydrogen refuelling stations in operation, according to H2Stations.org. Germany leads in Europe by count: about 113 of those 294 were in Germany. France was next with 65, then the Netherlands (25), and Switzerland (19).

In Belgium, as of Dec 2023, after opening Erpe-Mere & Herve, the count of public hydrogen filling stations operated by Colruyt’s DATS 24 stood at five, with two more operational, one in Zaventem (Air Liquide) and one in Antwerp (CMB).

Some hydrogen stations have been closed (temporarily or permanently) due to maintenance issues, economics, or lack of demand. For instance, in Germany, there have been announcements of station closures, which will reduce the number of open ones in some areas.

Long-time H2 partner Toyota

One partner that BMW explicitly names is long-time hydrogen advocate Toyota. The drive technology of the BMW iX5 Hydrogen is based on the third-generation fuel cell system that the BMW Group is developing in collaboration with the Toyota Motor Corporation.

The first generation of the fuel cell drive system was supplied entirely by the Toyota Motor Corporation (Toyota) and was fitted in the BMW 535iA back in 2014. The second generation made its debut in the current BMW iX5 Hydrogen pilot fleet.

For this third generation, BMW developed the overall fuel cell system itself, while the individual fuel cells came from Toyota. It is approximately 25% smaller in physical size compared to the preceding generation, due to higher power density.

BMW says it is “more efficient, has higher power, and greater range,” but hasn’t published detailed metrics yet. Instead, it mentioned: “As this is a development-phase prototype, energy consumption information according to WLTP is not available yet.“

The third generation of the BMW Group’s hydrogen drive system will be manufactured in Steyr from 2028, and the company’s competence centres in Munich and Steyr are already building the first prototypes.