Home - Automobile Reviews - BMWs Hydrogen 7 Ready For The Road
BMWs Hydrogen 7 Ready For The Road
Going Green With the Seven-Series
One of the most important vehicles that BMW will be displaying at the Mondial De LAutomobile in Paris at the end of the month probably wont be grabbing eyes like a lime-green supercar, or a decked-out SUV concept. No, the BMW Hydrogen7 looks like a normal, long-wheelbase 7-Series, with a standard silver paintjob and no stickers. Its unadorned exterior is deceiving, however, as its not only one of the most advanced vehicles to debut at the show, but will be BMWs first production hydrogen automobile, a vehicle six years in the making.
Because hydrogen | | Its now ready for the road (but not quite for sale). (Photo: BMW of North America) |
fueling stations are few and far between (even in Germany), the Hydrogen7 was designed as a dual-fuel vehicle, with separate tanks for gasoline and hydrogen. The car maintains a 19.5-gallon gasoline tank, which is good for a range of 310 miles, as well as a hydrogen tank thats capable of holding 17.6 lbs worth of liquefied hydrogen that has a range of 125 miles.
 | | Hydrogen 7 is based on the 760 long wheelbase. (Photo: BMW of North America) | | />
As its appearance might suggest, the Hydrogen7 is closely related to the 760Li long wheelbase, but theres a reason for this. BMW chose the extended version in order to accommodate both the gas tank, as well the 17.6-lb hydrogen tank, which is stored in front of it. As such, 4.5 inches of cabin space has been compromised, which makes it slightly less roomy than the standard LWB 7-Series (but plenty roomy by normal standards).
A bit more on the H2 tank that the 7 uses; it is a special fuel tank developed by Magna-Steyr, | | Minor compromises allow the 7 to run on hydrogen or gasoline. (Photo: BMW of North America) |
which is comprised of several sandwiched layers of high-tech thermal insulation. The reason that this is done is to prevent the liquid hydrogen from heating up and vaporizing, whereupon it cannot be used by the engine. BMW claims that the tank is so thermal efficient that a cup coffee would take approximately 80 days to cool down from boiling to a temperature that wouldnt burn a drinkers mouth.
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