The BMW Group on Monday launched a pilot fleet of hydrogen autos, with the German automotive big’s CEO referring to hydrogen as “the lacking piece within the jigsaw with regards to emission-free mobility.”

The BMW iX5 Hydrogen, which makes use of gas cells sourced from Toyota and has a prime velocity of greater than 112 miles per hour, is being put collectively at a facility in Munich.

The automobile shops hydrogen in two tanks and may be stuffed up in three to 4 minutes. BMW says it has a spread of 313 miles within the Worldwide Harmonised Gentle Automobile Take a look at Process, or WLTP cycle.

It can enter service in 2023, though the size of the rollout is small, with a fleet of “below 100 autos” set to be “employed internationally for demonstration and trial functions for varied goal teams.”

In an announcement, BMW Chair Oliver Zipse stated hydrogen was “a flexible power supply that has a key function to play within the power transition course of and due to this fact in local weather safety.”

He went on to explain hydrogen as “one of the vital environment friendly methods of storing and transporting renewable energies.”

“We must always use this potential to additionally speed up the transformation of the mobility sector,” Zipse added.

“Hydrogen is the lacking piece within the jigsaw with regards to emission-free mobility.”

“One expertise by itself won’t be sufficient to allow climate-neutral mobility worldwide.”

Described by the Worldwide Power Company as a “versatile power provider,” hydrogen has quite a lot of functions and may be deployed in sectors reminiscent of business and transport.

BMW is considered one of a number of automotive corporations persevering with to look into the potential of hydrogen. Others embrace Toyota and Hyundai, whereas smaller companies reminiscent of Riversimple are additionally engaged on hydrogen-powered automobiles.

Hydrogen might have its backers, however some high-profile figures from the automotive business aren’t so positive.

In June 2020, Tesla CEO Elon Musk tweeted that “gas cells = idiot sells,” including in July of that 12 months: “hydrogen idiot sells make no sense.”

In Might 2022, Musk reiterated his skepticism about hydrogen’s function within the deliberate shift to a extra sustainable future, describing it as “probably the most dumb factor I might presumably think about for power storage.”