BMW says its hydrogen cars are just the beginning of a green revolution
Christopher Tan, Straits Times 8 Mar 08;
IT RUNS on hydrogen (the most abundant stuff in the universe) and emits nothing much else but distilled water from its tailpipe. Yet, it drives just like any other BMW 7-series V12.
Sounds like a limousine the folks at Greenpeace might approve of. But, in reality, the BMW Hydrogen 7 is not exactly 'green'.
Not right now, anyway.
Yes, it is true that hydrogen is the world's most common element. But harnessing it and storing it in a double-walled highly insulated tank at minus 250 deg C so that it can power a Beemer for nearly 200km expends lots of energy. Energy provided mainly by fossil fuels.
BMW's head of hydrogen project infrastructure Michael Meurer says 80 to 90 per cent of the hydrogen used to power the group's fleet of 100 Hydrogen 7s is 'black hydrogen' (because of its non-green derivation).
But he is working hard with third parties to create renewable means (such as solar, wind and hydro) to make, freeze and store hydrogen. He does not say when this end can be realised, but back in 2000, BMW predicted that by 2020, half the cars it sells would be hydrogen-driven.
It is a long shot, but BMW's attempt is the only one that can make a clean break from the tyranny of oil. Well, that and Daimler's fuel-cell project.
BMW chose a hydrogen combustion platform, instead of a fuel-cell format, where hydrogen is used to make electricity to power motors in the car.
'Above all, a BMW must be a BMW,' says Mr Roland Krueger, head of BMW Asia. 'So it must have the driving characteristics of a BMW.'
Fuel-cell cars tend to drive like powerful golf buggies.
But unlike fuel-cell cars, hydrogen combustion engines still produce traces of undesirable by-products, such as carbon dioxide and nitrogen oxides.
The Hydrogen 7 rides well. Silent and smooth, it betrays just a hint of firmer damping - necessary because of the 200kg hydrogen tank in the rear. The car is 430kg heavier than the petrol-only 760Li, but packs merely 260bhp (versus the 760Li's 445bhp) and 300Nm (600Nm).
The power downgrade is presumably to tame the thirst of the hefty beast. Even so, the bi-fuel Hydrogen 7 will use about 14 litres of petrol per 100km in mixed cycle (more than the 445bhp 760Li). When using hydrogen, it will need over 50 litres of the stuff per 100km - despite hydrogen having a much higher energy content than petrol.
Even with hydrogen priced at a heavily subsidised 8 euros per kg (or 14.3 litres) in Germany, the Hydrogen 7 uses 29 euros per 100km in 'green' mode - 10 euros more than in petrol mode.
You might say saving the earth is never cheap. Then again, a fuel-cell car uses far less hydrogen.
Both the hydrogen combustion car and fuel-cell car have hefty price tags, estimated to be 10 times costlier than conventional models - and that's another hurdle to overcome before such cars can be sold commercially.
Just as BMW is showcasing five Hydrogen 7s here, two auto honchos at the ongoing Geneva Motor Show say hydrogen cars are far from commercial viability.
General Motors vice-chairman Bob Lutz and Toyota president Katsuaki Watanabe said at separate interviews at the show that electric hybrids are better options, chiefly because they are affordable.
It is interesting to note that GM had been flip-flopping on this issue. In the 1990s, it had an up-and-running electric car programme but canned it. It then jumped on the fuel-cell bandwagon, only to have Mr Lutz say it is not viable now.
BMW, at least, has been consistent (or stubborn). But it must find clean and cheap ways to make hydrogen if it wants its dream to take off.
'This is just the beginning,' declares BMW Asia's Mr Krueger, pointing to a Hydrogen 7 purring in the driveway. 'Just the beginning.'
