BMW’s head of development, Dr Herbert
Diess, explains why challenging ‘i’-car technologies will be central to an
expanding product range – and why fuel cell vehicles could become mainstream
products in certain regions.
As is now somewhat the norm for these
ambitious, global EV projects, the i8 and its particular breed of powertrain
were tested hard in temperatures at or beyond the extremes of -40°C and +40°C.
This is of particular pertinence today due to the massive cost benefits of
buying such vehicles in typically very expensive markets with extreme climates
such as Norway, where buyers of even the i8 may be able to avoid the enormous
luxury taxes imposed on such sporting cars. In short, there’s a lot more to consider
than normal with these greener projects that also wish to maintain a company’s
sports car reputation.
While
high-intensity, energy-efficient full LED headlights are standard in the BMW
i8, the optional laser-boost feature extends its high-beam range to up to 600
metres, doubling the already impressive illumination range of the latest LED
high-beam headlights
The experts on hand in Southern California
were repeatedly huddling up to discuss the feedback from all of the testers,
and the facial expressions indicated a real urgency to address all that may be
even slightly lacking. There is work to be done still, and the i8 software
tweaks will continue indefinitely.
Project head Breitfeld concludes, “We have
tested everything on the i8 to every extreme you can imagine and beyond. There
were many sleepless nights in this quicker development schedule and there will
continue to be more, to be sure.”
Fuel Cell Partner
The scale of BMW’s product-development
expansion in recent times is underlined by the fact that, of Diess’s 11,000
R&D staff, some 2,500 engineers joined the company within the last two
years. BMW has also been supported by external companies “who might do the odd
derivative for us, some design work, and so on”, says Diess, who adds, “We have
tried to become more productive in the way we work. That’s what the company
expects from us, and so far we’ve coped.”
Logging
an unprecedented “strictly hydrogen” cruising range of over 200 miles, the BMW
Hydrogen 7 mono-fuel completed the two-week, 31 city tour, tour with
outstanding reliability, leaving only a trail of potable water vapor in its
tracks.
One way of easing the development burden on
Diess’s engineers is cooperations with other OEMs. Following the signing in
June 2012 of a memorandum of understanding to work with Toyota, a formal
agreement to collaborate on fuel cell systems, a midsize sports-car feasibility
study, lightweight technologies and lithium-air batteries was inked in January
this year. Toyota is already buying four-cylinder diesel engines from its
German partner.
“Most important for us is that we haven’t
invested heavily in fuel cells over the past few years because it’s a very
long-term investment and needs huge resources,” Diess explains. “Those types of
technologies are so protected by IP that even if you put a lot of resources in,
you can’t keep up with what is already reported with IP, so you need a partner.
We joined up with Toyota to give us the chance to be at the leading edge of
worldwide fuel cell technology.”
It’s the potential for the use of hydrogen
as an industrial-scale storage medium during times of energy surplus – for
example, during periods of strong winds in areas with an abundance of
wind-powered generators – that has prompted BMW to keep tabs on fuel cell
technology. The company already has experience of hydrogen storage technology
from its work on the hydrogen-ICE-powered Hydrogen 7 that was produced in small
numbers from 2006.
BMW
claims the Hydrogen 7 is the “world’s first production-ready hydrogen vehicle”;
thus far, the Hydrogen 7 has only been released to select high-profile leasees.
Only 100 total vehicles have been produced to put their technology to the test,
and no more are planned to be produced.
Diess cites large investments in hydrogen
in Japan and Korea, together with potential developments on the US West Coast,
as signs that road-car-viable hydrogen infrastructures could yet be developed
in certain markets. If that came to pass, BMW would want to be ready –
potentially swapping a range extending IC engine as seen in i8 and i3, for a
fuel cell stack.
