BMW 5 Series GT Fuel Cell concept first drive

This is BMW’s latest hydrogen-powered concept vehicle. It is based on the 5GT and is powered by the latest-generation fuel cell stack, which is being co-developed with Toyota.

More importantly, this concept also features a new type of hydrogen storage tank. BMW has patented the technology and says it is now confident that not only is this new storage method the way of the future but also that a ‘hydrogen economy’ is the only way that Europe can disengage from fossil fuels over the medium term.

BMW has long experimented with vehicles powered by hydrogen, with its first experimental model dating back to 1984.

If you have a good memory, you might recall the ’Hydrogen 7’, based on the V12 7 Series and built in very limited numbers until 2007.

The car used a relatively conventional internal combustion engine, which, partly thanks to BMW’s Valvetronic valve intake system, could run on both petrol and hydrogen.

Since then, BMW and its hydrogen research went relatively quiet. The arrival of the first serious battery-powered production cars and scepticism about the likelihood of a ‘hydrogen economy’ has, in recent years, put hydrogen fuel cell cars on the back foot.

In 2013, BMW and Toyota signed a strategic collaboration on the development of hydrogen fuel cell drivetrains. This, BMW says, "provided fresh momentum for the development of FCEV drive technology".

BMW says its big breakthrough with this new prototype is in the hydrogen fuel tank and refuelling technology.

While this concept fuel cell car looks like a standard BMW 5GT both inside and out, it is very different under the skin.

Changes were made to the car’s structure, mainly in terms of crash safety for the fitting of the hydrogen tank and because the tank is bolted into the car as an integral part of the structure.

Under the bonnet sits the fuel cell stack. Fully dressed with all the ancillary components, it’s about the size of a conventional big V8. The core fuel cell stacks are a Toyota technology, with BMW supplying the new hydrogen tank, electric drive train and high voltage battery.

When running under a relatively low load the fuel cell is 65% efficient in turning the hydrogen fuel into forward motion. That’s far better than any internal combustion engine.

Under heavy load, however, the efficiency drops to 45%, which is slightly better than a typical turbodiesel engine.

The rear wheels are driven by a 199bhp electric motor via a new two-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission. A very small 1kWh battery sits above the rear axle.

The new storage tank is a huge multilayer construction. At its core is an aluminium pressure vessel which in turn is wrapped with a continuous carbonfibre-reinforced plastic filament.

This wrapped layer is around 5cm think. Around that is a radiation shield, and between that and an aluminium casing forming the outside skin, there is cavity containing a vacuum. The tank’s end caps are aluminium castings welded into place.