BMW Designs Hydrogen Powered 7-Series
- December 1st, 2006
- 3 Comments
Oh this is cool and I’m not just referring to the temperature of the hydrogen. This prototype BMW 7-series sedan was featured at the Los Angeles Auto Show. It can run on both gas and hydrogen and can switch between the two fuel sources in case you can’t find a hydrogen fueling station.
It currently uses BMW’s 6-liter V-12, but BMW engineers say that with further development, a 2-liter four cylinder hydrogen engine could crank 300 horses.
Even more interesting is that rather than running on silly hydrogen fuel cells, it utilizes liquid hydrogen, which in addition to being more compact that the gas, has to be kept insanely cold. To remedy this setback, engineers designed the hydrogen tank with insulation, so that it requires to additional energy expenditure to keep it at the proper temp.
BMW 7-series runs on cold, cold hydrogen [CNET Crave]
Sascha (Who am I?)
1 year ago
This is old news, has been around in Europe for a while. However, this car has a questionable purpose other than showing that a car using alternative fuel sources does not have to look like an OLPC turned into a car. The fuel economy is still the same (like 15 miles per gallon) and the liquid hydrogen is expensive. I read that Honda had some pilot project somewhere in the US where they gave a family a hydrogen-based Honda Civic and put a hydrogen gas station for them into their town. Maybe BMW will have to do something similar. All criticism aside, I’m all for alternative fuel sources and venturing into unchartered territories (does that sound Star Trek or what).
webonics (Who am I?)
1 year ago
Damn, that is a sweet ride. I also like the Honda REMIX concept that was unveiled at the show. But I heart BMW.
brklynsurfer (Who am I?)
1 year ago
I cant stand this BMW face saving with these Hydrogen powered internal combustion engines. Get R &D to develop some sustainable engines going.