Hydrogen-fuelled, zero-emissions SUV could be sold alongside battery-electric versions On sale 2028 (est) Price £75,000 (est)
Claire Evans claire.evans@haymarket.com
ONE CAN HAVE a dream, but two can make the dream so real. As the Marvin Gaye and Kim Weston classic says, it takes two. And that’s something BMW has taken on board in its ambition for a zero-emissions future.
The BMW iX5 Hydrogen is part of the brand’s plan to offer not only regular battery-electric cars, but also ones that get their electricity from hydrogen. The idea is that hydrogen fuel cell cars will be a better fit for those who can’t fit their life around regularly charging a battery.
You see, refuelling a hydrogen-powered car takes just a few minutes. That hydrogen, in liquid form, is reacted with oxygen to produce electricity, and the only emission is water.
The first car to properly showcase BMW’s hydrogen technology is the iX5. As the name suggests, it’s an electric version of the X5 SUV, and this version takes its current from a hydrogen fuel cell, with a full tank being enough for an official range of 313 miles.
The iX5 Hydrogen uses a revised version of the motor from the larger BMW iX electric luxury SUV, but its battery is much smaller because the fuel cell can power it directly. That helps to keep weight down; at 2495kg, the iX5 Hydrogen is around the same weight as the plug-in hybrid (PHEV) X5, and that helps when it comes to keeping the handling neat and tidy.
In fact, the iX5 Hydrogen leans very little in corners, and the steering as quick to respond and well weighted as it is in other X5s. The iX5 Hydrogen is also impressively smooth to drive, and it shields its occupants well from road and wind noise. Even though the tyres are low in profile and large in diameter (at 22 inches), they don’t hamper comfort or transmit much disruption through to occupants from uneven surfaces.
The electric motor sends 396bhp to the rear wheels, and the iX5 gets up to speed swiftly, with a pleasant artificial soundtrack (borrowed from the iX) creating a bit of a spaceship vibe. Official data is sparse, but BMW says 0-62mph takes less than six seconds. It can’t match the X5 xDrive50e plug-in hybrid’s 4.8sec time, then, but it’s almost as quick as the diesel xDrive30d.
Like other electric cars, the iX5 Hydrogen has a regenerative braking
