![]() ![]() “This steel factory is replacing either coal or gas. ![]() “The transport sector can pay a higher price for hydrogen as a fuel to replace diesel than, for example, a steel factory,” he says. He also hopes that a company like his can kickstart demand for the gas. “Putting all the eggs in one basket is not the right thing to do,” says Jürgen Guldner, general programme manager for hydrogen at BMW. Shares rose 6.9pc on Wall Street as a result, valuing the business at $877bn (£691bn) – bigger than the next nine largest companies combined.Įuropean rivals have been left playing catch-up, and BMW regards hydrogen as a useful way to stand out. The carmaker handed over 466,000 cars in the three months to June after price cuts paid off, beating analyst expectations of 445,000 deliveries. On Sunday night, Tesla once again proved its leadership credentials in the electric arena by reporting a record number of deliveries in the second quarter of 2023. Together they can deliver more than 400 horsepower and hit 62 miles per hour from a standstill in six seconds.īMW and Toyota are among a minority of big car makers pressing on with the technology as an option as the industry scrambles to find an answer to Musk. It is paired with a small battery, to gather waste power from braking and offer an acceleration boost, as found in a hybrid petrol car. To prove the concept, BMW has kitted out a small test fleet of X5 SUVs with a hydrogen power plant which can deliver 170 horsepower. Fill them with hydrogen made using solar or wind power and they are just as green as a battery-powered car can be. The cars drive like an electric vehicle since their fuel cells burn hydrogen, which produces only water, to generate electricity that powers a motor. It intends to market them to customers who do not have home charging, such as those without a garage or driveway drivers who require high flexibility or travel frequently, for whom even fast charging is too time consuming buyers in cold climates which kill battery life and those who tow heavy loads. The German carmaker believes that hydrogen cars could help four big groups of drivers who are unlikely to go electric. ![]() The familiar canopy, pumps, no smoking signs and other paraphernalia are present, but there are none of the smells or stains of a petrol station as enough fuel to travel hundreds of miles is dispensed in under four minutes in the form of a clear, odourless gas.īMW is betting on this technology as it seeks to find an alternative to battery-operated electric cars – amid a scramble to dethrone Elon Musk’s Tesla in the battle to rule the future of driving. If the driving experience matches up to the interior quality and tech savvy of the i4-and, of course the driving range-it presents a real challenge to the Model 3’s hegemony in this class.Off a backroad and behind a gate near Heathrow Airport stands one of the UK’s handful of hydrogen filling stations. Those starting prices are higher than those of the Model 3, but BMW has federal tax credits remaining to defray some of that premium. The i4 starts at $56,395 (including destination charges) for the rear-wheel-drive eDrive40 models and $66,895 for the more powerful and performance oriented all-wheel-drive M50. Whether or not you prefer this more traditional look and feel compared to the Model 3’s single screen, highly minimalistic approach is a matter of personal preference. Responses were instantaneous, the menu structure is intuitive, and it’s fair to assume it will carry over some of iDrive 7’s most useful features, like wireless Android Auto/Apple CarPlay and a voice command assistant that is actually helpful. I only had a chance to play with the setup for a few minutes, but it felt ready for primetime. The slightly curved display bank houses a 12.3-inch information display for the driver and a 14.9-inch multimedia screen immediately adjacent. I found iDrive 7 to be quite good already and this update feels significant on top of that. The i4 features BMW’s newest iDrive 8 multimedia system, which opts for a pair of screens starting in front of the driver (a la Mercedes-Benz) rather than a singular middle screen between the passenger. ![]() The two diverge widely when it comes to design and multimedia approach. ![]()
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