From Guest Blogger Jordan: BMW Showcases The Hydrogen-Powered i8 It Has Developed Together With Toyota
Over the past four years, BMW has been collaborating with Toyota on different projects that have to do with development of fuel-cell technologies, in an effort to accelerate the commercialization of hydrogen-powered vehicles. Among other things, this collaboration has been focused on the development of a high-performance fuel-cell car, which would be able to compete with the all-electric models offered by Tesla Motors.
The German car maker recently revealed one of the first results of this collaboration, showcasing a fuel-cell vehicle during the 2015 BMW Innovation Days in the city of Miramas, in the south of France. The hydrogen-powered research vehicle is based on the BMW i8 – the plug-in hybrid featuring a carbon-fiber body, which is considered by many to be the sports car of the future. This concept vehicle employs a fuel-cell powertrain, replacing the hybrid drivetrain of the i8, which includes a 1.5-liter turbocharged gasoline engine combined with two electric motors. The fuel cell stack is mounted in the rear, which is where the petrol engine sits in the plug-in version.
In addition to the different powertrain, this prototype sports a few more features that set it apart from the production version of the i8. It has a slightly modified front grille, in addition to big air ducts, as well as integrated headlights.
Although BMW hasn’t released any information on the car’s specs, according to some speculation, it is supposed to have a pretty long range and a fast 0-60 mph acceleration time. Based on the car’s hydrogen storage capacity, it is probably able to travel about 215 miles before refueling, and it can go from 0-60 mph in under 6 seconds.
The fuel-cell i8 is intended to serve as a testing ground for BMW’s hydrogen fuel-cell technology, as it continues to work with Toyota on developing advanced and more efficient fuel cell stacks and hydrogen tanks. The German manufacturer has announced that it intends to launch a mass-market fuel-cell vehicle by 2020, which will probably be sold under the “i” brand. Toyota, for its part, will launch its Mirai fuel cell sedan in October 2015.
“Technically, we’re ready to put fuel-cell cars on the road, but so far it remains too expensive,” said Axel Ruecker, who works in BMW’s fuel-cell technology development team. “Making fuel-cell technology a reality is a task not just for car makers, but for the whole of society.”
BMW knows that the lack of refueling infrastructure will continue to be a huge barrier for fuel cell vehicles at least over the next couple of years. That’s why it intends to partner up with governments in various countries, as well as energy companies, in an attempt to figure out a plan for expanding the hydrogen refueling network, similarly to what Toyota is doing. Toyota, Nissan and Honda have joined forces and plan to spend a total of $48 million to increase the number of hydrogen refueling stations in Japan. They recently announced that they will spend about $90,000 per station, in a project that is expected to run until the end of this decade.
I can’t see how hydrogen fuel cell vehicles will ever be superior to pure EV.
The costs for fuel cell EV is now far higher than for battery EV, and there is no re-fueling infrastructure. With the way batteries are improving, and also with the rate of cost reduction, it seems unlikely to me that this will change.
In terms of efficiency, on a whole cycle basis the fuel cell cannot compete with battery –
Suppose you used solar or wind power to electrolyse water to produce hydrogen which you then use in a fuel cell, you get out as electricity around 40% of the electricity originally generated by the wind turbines or solar panels. Do the same with a battery,and your efficiency is nearer 80 to 90%.
The alternate means to produce hydrogen is to process it from methane. You then have the same emissions as if you had burned the methane.
The other problem with a hydrogen infrastructure is that it has low density so there in the absence of dedicated mains hydrogen pipes, you either have to deliver hydrogen by tanker (rather inefficient given its low energy density), or produce it by electrolysis on site at the refuelling location.
If fuel cells are to be used, it seems more viable to develop methane fuel cells which are able to use the existing LPG infrastructure.