Hydrogen-powered horizons

The BMW iX5 Hydrogen Fuel Cell Electric Vehicle (FCEV) was in Johannesburg last Friday as part of a pilot fleet currently visiting various countries around the world. IOL’s reporter, Mpho Mahlangu, recounted his brief opportunity to get behind the wheel of the left-hand drive innovation in automobile propulsion.

According to him, “the BMW iX5 certainly feels every bit the same as any other electric vehicle. The addition of the BMW Iconic Sounds is welcomed as it adds character to the vehicle. Some evident visual differences that the BMW iX5 benefits from include blue accents around the kidney grilles and on the lower bumper, aerodynamically efficient alloy wheels, and blue accents on the lower bumper at the rear,” he writes.

Not much different then.

But it is under the hood that this high-technology automobile shows that it is made of something beyond the ordinary. The drivetrain of the BMW iX5 Hydrogen consists of a 125 kW fuel cell system at the front, two hydrogen tanks with a 6 kg total capacity in the middle, a 295 kW BMW iX-derived electric motor and a 170 kW battery, he reports. This translates to a total power output of 295 kW and a claimed range of 500 km. The iX5 can take between 3 and 4 minutes to recharge with hydrogen in ideal circumstances, although a hot climate may affect how long it takes, Mahlangu warns.

A partnership between BMW, Anglo American Platinum and Sasol was responsible for bringing the fleet to Africa. At the SA Hydrogen Council’s regional meeting and launch of the pilot fleet last week, CEO of BMW Group South Africa, Peter van Binsbergen, said that “collaboration across industries would be key to unlocking the huge potential of green hydrogen as a critical technology in the decarbonisation challenge.”

Green hydrogen is hydrogen manufactured using renewable energy sources.

In a press release issued by the BMW Group in South Africa earlier this month, the manufacturer says: “The green hydrogen economy is rapidly rising to the forefront of global sustainability and energy security initiatives,” and that the public road trial presents the opportunity for each of the partner companies to provide a unique part of the value chain to demonstrate their capabilities.



Huge transport potential

“This is why we have partnered with Anglo American Platinum and Sasol to bring the BMW iX5 Hydrogen fleet to South Africa. We see hydrogen as the ‘missing piece’ of the energy transition puzzle, and, in the transport sector, it has the potential to become another pillar in the BMW Group’s drivetrain portfolio for local CO2-free mobility, alongside our established battery-electric mobility option,” the release quotes Van Binsbergen.

Dr Juergen Guldner, BMW Group’s general programme manager for hydrogen, sees hydrogen cars as a good complement to battery electric vehicles, not a competition between the two technologies. “Since hydrogen cars combine the advantages of electric driving with the possibility to refuel quickly, they would be ideal for customers who travel a lot or who do not have electric charging at home or at work,” Guldner said.

Prakashim Moodliar, head of projects at Anglo American Platinum, said: “We believe partnerships are key to creating a local, sustainable hydrogen economy. Our Platinum Group Metals (PGMs) will play a strategic role in enabling a new industrial sector in the country and globally. In 2023, we announced our partnership with BMW Group South Africa and Sasol to bring green mobility to SA.”

According to Moodliar, "the future is hydrogen.”



Hydrogen mobility

Dries Swanepoel, principal specialist, market development, at Sasol’s low-carbon energy solutions business, said: “Sasol is very excited about our partnership with Anglo American Platinum and BMW Group South Africa to develop a local green economy. BMW’s iX5 Hydrogen, fuelled with Sasol’s hydrogen dispensed using Air Products technology, is a powerful expression of thought leadership and innovation in action. Together, we are making strides towards introducing the concept of hydrogen mobility in South Africa and building the ecosystem of partners needed to do this.”

Meanwhile, and further afield, hundreds of bus fans queued to board Hong Kong’s first hydrogen-powered double-decker bus when it went into service on Sunday. This marks the initial vehicle of what operator Citybus said would be a zero-emission fleet by 2045, according to hydrogen-central.com.

Roger Ma Chim-wai, the general manager of operations for Citybus, said the new bus would make six to eight trips a day and that the company planned to have at least five of the eco-friendly buses in service this year and to create a second refuelling station on Hong Kong Island, according to the specialist news site. The buses are fitted with hydrogen cylinders and supply systems, with which hydrogen is turned into electricity through a chemical reaction, and the only emission is water. Officials said refuelling took about 10 minutes and allowed the bus to travel up to 400 km.



Discounted hydrogen power

On Saturday, the same site reported that in America, Toyota offers a US$40 000 discount on a hydrogen-powered Mirai. Toyota’s Mirai is only sold in California since it’s the only state with the hydrogen refuelling infrastructure, but Hydrogen Central quotes Cars Direct, saying that the incentives that Toyota is currently offering on the Mirai are the biggest single discounts on any car right now.

Early in February, India’s government announced a new scheme that aims to support retrofitting existing shipping vessels to run on green hydrogen. The total budget for projects under this scheme amounts to about US$13.8 million, and the scheme is intended to realise India’s National Green Hydrogen Mission. The Shipping Corporation of India (SCI) will retrofit at least two ships to run on green hydrogen or its derivatives by the year 2027 and the mission also provides for setting up green ammonia bunkers and refuelling facilities in at least one port by the year 2025.