BMW 7-Series may run on liquid hydrogen

Still think that liquid hydrogen-fuelled cars are still a thing of the oh-so-distant future? Well, you may want to think twice because yesterday, on March 12, 2006, at the 17th NHA Annual Hydrogen Conference at the Long Beach Convention Center in California, BMW presented its practical yet daring masterpiece, the bi-fueled 7 series model called Hydrogen 7.

The device presented is a V12 liquid-hydrogen engine and a storage tank that can be installed into a production vehicle to make it possible to run on both regular gasoline and much more futuristic liquid hydrogen.

BMW experiments with different types of engines running on alternative fuel for the last couple of years. In this particular case, the alternative fuel in question is hydrogen. While most current designs involve electrochemical conversion of the liquefied gas in a heavy and expensive fuel-cell, BMW's approach is more traditional: the fuel burns in a modified internal combustion engine (ICE). The German company presented to the public its experimental BMW H2R vehicle built around a hydrogen-powered 6.0-liter 285hp V12 engine two years ago, in 2004.

The company says, that the engine can run on either gasoline or super-cooled liquid hydrogen stored at a constant temperature of -253 Celsius. To keep the fuel from boil-off, the storage tank is insulated using about seventy layers of 'aluminum-coated synthetic foil' put under vacuum between two thick walls.

It is still not clear, how much power will feature the new engine and what kind of price can be set for such a rare 'hybrid' vehicle.

See also: Cadillac to Release the Escalade Hybrid SUV