EVs not the only answer Cover

BMW’s Oliver Zipse

Bosch’s Dr Markus Heyn

Bosch’s chairman of the mobility solutions, Markus Heyn, has also warned recently a switch to a pureelectric world would result in a shortage of batteries.

In an interview with Stuttgarter Nachrichten, he used Germany’s much-publicised scramble to recover from an over-reliance on Russian gas to power its industry as an example of the dangers of putting all your eggs in one basket.

He told the Stuttgarter Zeitung: “We are currently seeing the consequences of the gas shortage for Germany and Europe because we prepared too few alternatives.

“In the automotive industry, we should use this occasion to ask ourselves what we can do if there should ever be too few battery cells. Everyone would certainly like to see an alternative to battery power. But this will only exist if we have prepared it in good time.”

He said fuel cells need to be considered as an alternative. The infrastructure being developed for long-haul trucks is well-suited as a “backbone for supplying passenger cars”, he said.

Bosch announced in June 2022 it was investing $US1.3 billion in hydrogen development and production over the next three years.

BMW is well down the track of launching its battery-powered ‘Neue Klasse’ models due in 2025, but BMW has invested heavily over decades in developing fuel-cell technology. As far back as the launch of its Hydrogen 7 model in 2006, BMW was touting hydrogen as the way of the future, believing it had greater advantages over electric vehicles.

“Experts agree that hydrogen is the only source of energy with the potential in the long run to replace fossil fuels in road traffic,” the carmaker said at the time.

While BMW has now accepted electric powertrains are a viable alternative to fossil fuels for everyday motoring, Zipse retains the view that hydrogen is “the only raw material that can be sustainably produced and stored”. It also has infrastructure benefits, he said.

“You can convert a [petrol station] in two days. The way there is relatively short, unlike with electromobility, where you need connections to the medium-voltage grid and you need a charging infrastructure for every car,” he said.

“That’s a lot of work. That will work, but not as the only solution. This is going to take far too long. That’s why we firmly believe in hydrogen. It will come and it will come at BMW, I am very, very sure of that.”

BMW is also planning to launch its iX5 SUV, which uses hydrogen fuel cells to power its electric motors, in the next half of this decade.

Toyota and Hyundai are also developing fuel-cell powertrains.

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