April 21, 2008
BMW Unveils New Lightweight Hydrogen Concept Vehicle
MUNICH, GERMANY – BMW has unveiled a new concept vehicle that can run solely on lightweight
hydrogen. A previous version of its Hydrogen 7 concept car was a bi-fuel
design, taking both gasoline and what many experts believe is the fuel of the
future, according to www.thecarconnection.com.
In the previous
version of the BMW Hydrogen 7, if the lightweight gas wasn’t available, a
motorist could switch to gasoline and keep running. However, the car’s V-12
powertrain had to be compromised to handle both fuels. And that impacted
performance, mileage, and emissions, according to BMW officials.
The tiniest
amount of NOx does come out of the tailpipe, the natural result of the
compression-ignition cycle in an internal combustion engine. But, “The BMW
Hydrogen 7’s emissions were only a fraction of SULEV level, making it one of
the lowest emitting combustion engine vehicles that have been manufactured,” said
Thomas Wallner, a mechanical engineer who leads Argonne’s hydrogen vehicle
testing activities, as quoted by www.thecarconnection.com. “Moreover, the car’s
engine actively cleans the air. Argonne’s testing shows that the Hydrogen 7’s
12-cylinder engine actually shows emissions levels that, for certain
components, such as Non Methane Organic Gases (NMOG’s) and Carbon Monoxides (CO’s),
are cleaner than the ambient air that comes into the car’s engine.”