Remember the "water-hydrogen car"? China has a joke, but BMW may have really made it!

Remember that noisy "water-hydrogen car" a year ago? Whether it is the investment after the project is established or the subsidy that is eager to apply after it takes shape, it reflects that a certain brand of water and hydrogen vehicles attract more money than it actually does. At that time, the jokes in the industry may really come true today. It is reported that BMW recently announced the design of its first hydrogen fuel cell vehicle. This new car based on BMW X5 will be powered by hydrogen fuel, and the emission is only water vapor, realizing the theoretical water-hydrogen car.

Compared with the domestic "big flicker", the principle of BMW hydrogen energy vehicle is much more reliable: first of all, it can run without adding water. In fact, hydrogen is added, and 6 kilograms of hydrogen is compressed and stored in two hydrogen tanks at a high pressure of 700bar. The hydrogen device drives the motor through the fuel cell reaction, which can provide the maximum power output of 170 kW. In other words, BMW's hydrogen car does not deviate from the energy conversion rules of traditional cars, which is the basis for hydrogen energy to be used in motor vehicles. As for the process from water to hydrogen, and then from hydrogen to driving force, it is too "advanced" at present.

Of course, there are some technical bottlenecks, such as safety, why hydrogen energy vehicles have not been mass-produced. As we all know, hydrogen is flammable and explosive. If it is accidentally coated on a car, the car will be destroyed. BMW has its own unique views on this. BMW's hydrogen tank is made of high-strength carbon fiber, which has been used in aerospace technology with its advantages of high strength and light weight, and has been used as early as BMW's i3 and BMW's 7 series. But in this way, the cost of mass production will inevitably increase substantially, so even the hydrogen-powered BMW X5 has not got rid of the image of "bomb" on the road at this stage.

In addition to the breakthrough of hydrogen storage technology, BMW hydrogen energy vehicles have also made innovations in battery matching. Fuel cell is the best combination with hydrogen, but it is not good at power output and battery life, so the new car is equipped with a lithium battery in addition to the fuel cell to store the excess electric energy generated by the fuel cell in the reaction and also recover the braking energy of the vehicle. At the same time, the lithium battery can supply power to the motor at the same time as the fuel cell, generating a powerful power of up to 275 kilowatts.

As for why people in new energy vehicles are always "dead" with hydrogen, it is necessary to say two words here: First of all, hydrogen has good combustion performance, that is, fast combustion speed, high calorific value, small loss, and insufficient combustion existing in gasoline vehicles at present, which does not exist on hydrogen. In addition, hydrogen energy is relatively clean and renewable, which is its advantage over natural gas and other fossil fuels.

In a word, hydrogen energy is the trend of new energy vehicles in the future. Once its technology is perfect, it will be more beneficial to the country and the people than electric vehicles. Of course, the mass production of BMW's "Hydrogen X5" will take time. It is said that there will be no test team before 2022, and it is still too early to mass-produce real cars in 2025.

This article comes from car home, the author of the car manufacturer, and does not represent car home's position.