Striking contemporary: BMW iX5 Hydrogen on the street
Image: Lucas Bäuml
The BMW iX5 Hydrogen drives like an electric car and fuels like a gasoline engine. What is ideal in theory encounters incomplete infrastructure in practice. Toyota and Hyundai are also struggling with this.
Ein sunny Sunday afternoon. There is a lot of activity at the truck stop in southern Germany, the Teslas are lined up in front of the superchargers, while the drivers drink coffee from paper cups and constantly look at their devices. Next to it is the only filling point for hydrogen, empty and even covered. After a few days you will become familiar with the following procedure with the BMW iX5 Hydrogen. Press the button with the fuel pump symbol in the door. It takes about ten seconds, then the message “Ready to refuel” appears in the driver display.
Meanwhile, the driver activates the pump with a card and associated PIN. Then you have to take the fuel tap out of its mounting, it is significantly heavier than the fuel nozzle, and place it firmly on the filler neck on the car, lock it on the handle and press the green start button. There is a quiet hissing and hissing noise, a clicking sound, probably a valve opening. Less than five minutes pass, there are now six kilos of hydrogen on board again and the journey home is assured. The electromobilists look up from their devices as the BMW starts moving.
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