Automotive giant BMW and global energy firm Total have jointly opened a hydrogen station, armed with a first-of-its-kind, two-mode refueling system, at Detmoldstrasse, Munich, in Germany.
With this, the European HyFIVE project's South Cluster, which has Stuttgart, Munich, Innsbruck and Bolsano within its purview, is completed.
BMW Group head of Research Powertrain Matthias Klietz said: "This new form of mobility, based on hydrogen, offers private and commercial users zero-local-emission long-distance electric mobility with no concessions on comfort, space and refuelling times."
The hydrogen station with two pumps dispenses hydrogen in two different ways, namely, 700 bar CGH2 hydrogen storage technology and cryo-compressed hydrogen storage technology (CCH2).
The former is already in operation on a general basis, while the latter, developed by the BMW Group, makes arrangement for storing gaseous hydrogen at low temperature on board at 350-bar pressure.
The CCH2 has currently been stated to be undergoing an advanced stage. Its tanks make room for 50% more hydrogen storage and it is capable of sustaining a 500km drive.
The hydrogen cell offers the capability for generating energy with the emission of only water vapor and a small amount of nitrogen oxide when subjected to an internal combustion engine.
In case of a fuel cell, the gas generates power for running an electric motor with water vapor as an exhaust emission. As the battery only forms the power buffer, a smaller and lighter version of a battery can be put to use for a battery-electric vehicle.
Such fuel cells, which provide fast and convenient refueling in around five minutes for electric vehicles, can support driving ranges of 500km.
BMW Group identifies that ensuring a transnational infrastructure across Europe poses a challenge but bets big on the initiative towards acting as a foundation for putting in place a continental setup by 2020. Currently, the initial markets for the hydrogen cells are Japan, California in the US, Germany, the UK and Scandinavia.
In that direction, the BMW Group has joined forces with Total and Linde Group for refueling processes and technology.
