GERMANY: The BMW iX5 Hydrogen crossover featuring the hydrogen fuel cell has started production. The automotive manufacturer will build the new model at its Munich Research and Innovation Center. Starting next spring, BMW will use the cars as technology demonstrations start in some markets.
The company’s research centre employs approximately 900 people, and employees can simultaneously work on up to six vehicle projects.
BMW gears up for iX5’s production
BMW builds each model here for the first time to ensure the preparedness of the product and the manufacturing procedures for the full production of the cars.
Honest Weber, an individual from the leading group of executives at BMW liable for improvement, said that hydrogen is a flexible energy source that will be crucial as the world proceeds to a more climate-friendly future.
The company will utilize its iX5 Hydrogen fuel cell test armada to look further into the innovation as the organization accepts a blend of battery-electric and energy-component electric vehicles is required. Weber said that FCEVs don’t need critical raw materials for making batteries like cobalt, lithium, or nickel.
The company’s Spartanburg factory in the US will make the iX5. The crossover gets a new floor in Germany that can hold two hydrogen tanks under the rear seat and in the central tunnel.
During the assembly phase, the company places the high-performance battery, fuel cells, electric motor, and 12-volt and 400-volt electric systems. Once collected and painted, BMW puts the hybrid under “a total functionality check” at its Aschheim test centre.
However, before its production, the iX5 had already passed a rigorous testing program. BMW isn’t the only automotive manufacturer trialling hydrogen fuel cell systems.
This week, Honda announced its introduction of a hydrogen fuel cell plug-in electric vehicle in 2024. Honda’s well-liked crossover CR-V, which underwent a substantial redesign for the 2023 model year, is the base for the new car.
Like BMW, Honda is taking special care of the low-volume production of the model by building it in its Performance Manufacturing Center in Ohio, where it also makes race cars, the Acura NSX and the Acura PMC Edition.
With electric vehicles, automakers face new uncertainties, and the absence of a robust charging infrastructure is not helping. Hydrogen, on the other hand, has similar limitations, but BMW, Hyundai, and others have continued to investigate the technology’s viability.
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