The release of the Hydrogen 7 for sale is being heralded by BMW as a milestone in motoring history. Although only 100 cars will be sold throughout 2007, and the buyers are carefully selected, the Hydrogen 7 has supposedly been put through all the rigorous testing that any BMW must pass before entering series production.
No doubt the reason for hand-picking the customers is to do with the fact that liquid hydrogen isn't exactly a common thing in your local filling station. With that in mind, the Hydrogen 7 can run on either hydrogen or petrol, though the electronics favour hydrogen running. The switch to petrol running is claimed to be seamless and the driver may select which fuel to use via a button on the steering wheel as well.
BMW's engineers have calibrated the engine management to provide the same engine power and torque characteristics regardless of which fuel source is used, with a peak power of 260bhp. The performance figures are commensurate with a luxury saloon; 0-62mph is over in 9.5 seconds and top speed is 143mph.
The only downside to a hydrogen-fuelled 7 Series seems to be the lack of readily available liquid hydrogen, although it must be quite expensive to produce the Hydrogen 7 itself, so don't expect to see a whole range of hydrogen-fuelled BMWs in the near future. However, the company should be congratulated for taking this first step.
Shane O' Donoghue - 12 Dec 2006