BMW will have a viable hydrogen car by the end of the decade

Speaking at the launch of Rolls-Royce’s first production electric car, BMW Group chairman Oliver Zipse also found a moment to chat about hydrogen fuel cell powertrains, and his thoughts will certainly please those who don’t see their future with big batteries.

“In this decade there will be a viable product from BMW with hydrogen. You will see that,” said Zipse. 

“We believe in hydrogen for many reasons. We believe that – and I’m speaking now from the BMW side but that ends up being for every brand in the Group – if you want to ride emissions-free and you do not have a charging station, this is the only possibility we have.

“In some areas to implement a hydrogen infrastructure is easier than an electric infrastructure, for example in areas where you don’t have any connection to a power grid. For hydrogen you just need the tank. There will be instances in this world where you have that situation. Will that be the main market? No, it will not.”

It’s a market that BMW clearly wants to be a part of though. Remember, it’s already testing the ‘i Hydrogen NEXT’ – essentially an X5 with a fuel cell that was already at a “near standard” stage back in June 2021.

Back to Rolls-Royce though – can we expect a hydrogen-powered Phantom or Ghost in the near future? “I would never exclude anything,” says Zipse. Make of that what you will...