What's with the zany paintwork?
That's the make it clear to visitors of the BMW stand at this year's Frankfurt Motor Show that this is no ordinary X5. In fact, its official title is BMW i Hydrogen Next, which explains the blue-and-white colour scheme. And the lack of exhaust pipes, for that matter.
So it's powered by hydrogen?
Indeed it is. BMW hasn't said much about the fuel cell stack under the bonnet, but we do know that it's working hard with Toyota on the FCEV (Fuel Cell Electric Vehicle) technology, as it's convinced that hydrogen power is the future. In fact, it's been part of the Hydrogen Council since 2017, which has grown from an initial 11 members to 60-strong today. Phrases like 'hydrogen-fuelled energy revolution' are bandied about by the Hydrogen Council, and it has some pretty big hitters onboard so it should be taken seriously, even if we are looking quite far into the future.
How far exactly?
Well, BMW will actually manufacture a small number of X5s in 2021 powered by a fuel cell, presumably to send out and get some real-world usage data (it has had its own fleet of FCEV 5 Series GT on the go since 2015). It reckons it could offer buyers a production-ready FCEV by 2025, but only if the hydrogen-filling infrastructure is in place and there is demand for such things.
Shane O'Donoghue - 10 Sep 2019