Hydrogen BMW

[Manik]

I think the new 7 series hydrogen has a gas motor encluded too. I think the hydrogren engine wasn't enough power wise. But I'm not sure tho, I watched a show about BMW's record Hydrogen car and they mentioned some info about the new 7 series hydrogen.

[Egg Nog]

I think the new 7 series hydrogen has a gas motor encluded too. I think the hydrogren engine wasn't enough power wise. But I'm not sure tho, I watched a show about BMW's record Hydrogen car and they mentioned some info about the new 7 series hydrogen.

Fear not!

All BMW Hydrogen cars so far (there have been quite a few over the years) have been set-up to be compatible with both fuels.

[Coventrysucks]

I don't think hydrogen will be the future. In fact, I believe oil is a renewable resource.

I agree to an extent.

Hydrogen is definately not the future.

You can't actually get hydrogen without using energy - which currently requires the burning of fossil fuels, which, incidentally, are not renewable. It just moves the problem of pollution rather than eliminating it.

Then you have the problem of storage. The BMW Hydrogen 7er's boot is more-or-less filled with a big pressurised tank of hydrogen.

Hydrogen burns with a squeaky pop, and 'pressurised tanks in cars that might crash' isn't going to feature in the "Top 10 best ideas ever" list. Lets face it even the Top 100 looks a bit ambitious.

Untill someone finds a way of creating hydrogen without causing pollution, and a way of storing it safely and compactly while they are taking a break from green energy research, hydrogen isn't going to be hugely popular.

[Egg Nog]

Untill someone finds a way of creating hydrogen without causing pollution, and a way of storing it safely and compactly while they are taking a break from green energy research, hydrogen isn't going to be hugely popular.

1. Not impossible. BMW's forty 760iH taxis use hydrogen made through electrolysis powered by solar panels. I do agree that it definitely isn't cost-effective at this point.

2. BMW's tanks have been shot with high-velocity ammunition rounds without any issues. I think they're aware of the potential problems, being massively educated engineers and all - The difficult part is building trust among the general public who might make general assumptions like this.

[targa]

napoleon dynamite was awesome. mazdas making a hydrogen powered rx-8.

i hate you. ND sucks ass, no plot. and before some fan comes in saying "oh, they meant it to have no plot" understand, yes, i get that. it could have worked, notice i put 'could have' in italics, but the dialouge wasnt good enough. it was an endless series of complaining. then some say "well, what do you expect? it was an indipendent movie" shut the hell up, it wasnt. that is, unless you consider 20th century Fox, MTV Films, and, get this, Paramount Pictures, are indi companies, which i assure you, they are not. Clerks was an indipendant film, it was great, Garden State was for the most part indipendant(or, it was less than ND) and it was great.

and about the hydrogen RX8, i dont know what it is about that that just seems wrong

[SupraMan22]

I don't think hydrogen will be the future. In fact, I believe oil is a renewable resource.

Yeah. I'm almost positive, no i am positive it isn't a renewable resource. If it was, companies wouldn't be spending money on trying to make hydrogen run cars. But think what you want. How bout some more stuff on the Hydrogen BMW.

[Matra et Alpine]

Yeah. I'm almost positive, no i am positive it isn't a renewable resource. If it was, companies wouldn't be spending money on trying to make hydrogen run cars. But think what you want. How bout some more stuff on the Hydrogen BMW.

Stephen was right, Supra, oil is a renewable resource.

We just have to wait a few million years though and allow the forests and shellfish to lie where they fall and naturally decay, THEN wait for an upheaval to push rock on top of them, crush them and it'll be fine.

No use for mankind though coz we'll be something else by then

[Stephen]

In 65 Million years there will be loads of it underground again

This is pretty much what I mean. That if it does run out, it will eventually come back over time, or it it won't run out because it's reproducing faster than we use it.

[TIM]

Don't worry, it's just a question of a few years. It's all secret though. I live right near the BMW headquarters here in Munich. There have been many BMW MINI hydrogen cars around in my neighborhood these days. They use this area for sectret testing I found out. I'll tell you more as soon as I get solid information...I am spying out a lot these days . I might even get some Fotos

[Coventrysucks]

2. BMW's tanks have been shot with high-velocity ammunition rounds without any issues. I think they're aware of the potential problems, being massively educated engineers and all - The difficult part is building trust among the general public who might make general assumptions like this.

Ah, yes, but:

The BMW tank is much bigger than a conventional petrol tank in physical dimensions, whilst its volume is smaller IIRC. I'm pretty sure that hydrogen isn't as efficient either, so you need more to have the same range as a petrol version.

Therefore to make it as practical as the petrol version they'd have to store it under much greater pressure which means it will require an incredibly sturdy tank.

[lukeh]

Don't worry, it's just a question of a few years. It's all secret though. I live right near the BMW headquarters here in Munich. There have been many BMW MINI hydrogen cars around in my neighborhood these days. They use this area for sectret testing I found out. I'll tell you more as soon as I get solid information...I am spying out a lot these days . I might even get some Fotos

That sounds cool. I would like to live in Munich but curently I am living in a small town called Oranienburg in gerrmany. It is 30km out of Berlin it is not the best place for cars and maybe not as intresting as where you live.

[h00t_h00t]

Ah, yes, but:

The BMW tank is much bigger than a conventional petrol tank in physical dimensions, whilst its volume is smaller IIRC. I'm pretty sure that hydrogen isn't as efficient either, so you need more to have the same range as a petrol version.

Therefore to make it as practical as the petrol version they'd have to store it under much greater pressure which means it will require an incredibly sturdy tank.

They are doing quite well if you compare the amount of development petrol engines to the amount hydrogens have. The power needed to make hydrogen can be found from burning fuel crops.

[Egg Nog]

The BMW tank is much bigger than a conventional petrol tank in physical dimensions, whilst its volume is smaller IIRC. I'm pretty sure that hydrogen isn't as efficient either, so you need more to have the same range as a petrol version.

Therefore to make it as practical as the petrol version they'd have to store it under much greater pressure which means it will require an incredibly sturdy tank.

Since when are normal gas tanks hugely pressurized?

BMW uses liquid hydrogen (at -250 celsius!) in a 140 litre tank stored forward in the luggage compartment. This is compared to a normal 40 litre gas tank. So yes, it does take up more room. You can get around 400km to the tank of hydrogen and 350km to the tank of gasoline. These are stats from the previous generation of 760iH, I'm not sure about the more recent one. And again, these cars do have extremely sturdy tanks.

Keep in mind that this isn't just a prototype - BMW personally uses them to taxi VIP visitors from the Munich airport to the factory. That's one group of people that they sure as hell don't want to put in any danger.

I can't find myself arguing against them at all though. No matter how hard anybody tries to dismiss it, you've got to give them credit for working on it. Not many manufacturers have the balls to think outside the box.

[andy.muc]

You can't actually get hydrogen without using energy - which currently requires the burning of fossil fuels, which, incidentally, are not renewable. It just moves the problem of pollution rather than eliminating it.

Energy doesn't inevitably need burning of fossil fuels.
-we got hydro power from hydroelectric power plants
-we got solar power from solar power plants
-we got geological heat power from geothermical power plants
-we got nuclear power...
-...

[Coventrysucks]

Since when are normal gas tanks hugely pressurized?

BMW uses liquid hydrogen (at -250 celsius!) in a 140 litre tank stored forward in the luggage compartment. This is compared to a normal 40 litre gas tank. So yes, it does take up more room. You can get around 400km to the tank of hydrogen and 350km to the tank of gasoline. These are stats from the previous generation of 760iH, I'm not sure about the more recent one. And again, these cars do have extremely sturdy tanks.

400/140 = 2.86km/ litre of hydrogen
350/40 = 8.75km/ litre of hydrogen

If you were to run the car exclusively on hydrogen, replacing the current petrol tank with the hydrogen one so that you can fit things in the boot again you'd need to make the tank smaller, and you'd need to fit the same ammount of gas/liquid in the smaller tank.

That means either more pressure or less temperature both of which add complication.