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Weight, cost challenges as BMW works to bring fuel-cell vehicle to market

MERTEN JUNG It is possible to take an existing filling station and simply add the hydrogen par

START-UP BMW’s 5-series GT fuel-cell prototype

6th May 2016

By: Irma Venter

Creamer Media Senior Deputy Editor

  

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BMW hopes to have all the components for a hydrogen fuel-cell-powered vehicle ready by “2020-ish”, says BMW head of fuel cell development Dr Merten Jung. Only then will the German carmaker decide which model should be launched onto the market as a customer-ready, fuel-cell-powered BMW.

“First of all, we have to do our homework with the components,” says Jung.

“Bringing down the costs is one major issue, as well as increasing the performance and reducing the weight so that, in the end, we have an appealing product for the customer.”

BMW’s current fuel-cell research prototype is currently “a few hundred kilograms” heavier than a conventional vehicle with an internal combustion engine.

Jung says it is possible to transform an existing vehicle into a fuel cell vehicle, or to purpose-build a vehicle around the fuel-cell powertrain.

“We are always discussing which is the best option. We have both possibilities available to us.”

But what are the main components BMW wants ready for ‘2020-ish’?

Many of the components the carmaker needs for the fuel-cell powertrain are already available, such as the electric motor, the gearbox and the power electronics. These are already shared by different models within BMW’s battery-electric vehicle range.

However, the fuel-cell electric vehicle has “two to three special components” that produce electric power, notes Jung.

“There is the fuel cell itself and the system around it. We have the hydrogen tank and then we need a small hybrid battery for regeneration. So those three [components] replace the big, large battery you have in a long-distance battery electric vehicle.”

That said, let’s talk zero-emission product positioning.

BMW’s fuel-cell vehicle is not set to compete with electric vehicles.

The manufacturer views its smaller, fully electric vehicle, such as the i3, as the one suitable to the urban environment, travelling shorter distances before requiring recharging, while any larger-sized fuel-cell vehicle will be aimed at those customers seeking to travel longer distances before the energy source has to be replenished.

With the fuel-cell vehicle, BMW wants the customer to have “the same experience and performance as a battery electric vehicle, but with the advantage of faster refuelling,” says Jung.

Cutting Costs
BMW entered a cooperation agreement with Toyota in 2013 to jointly develop a hydrogen fuel-cell system.

Launched in 2014, Toyota’s Mirai has already entered the market in Japan and a handful of other countries.

The Mirai has a cruising range of about 500 km and a hydrogen refuelling time of around five minutes.

“Hydrogen has the benefit of being generated from many different natural sources and man-made by-products – even sewage sludge. It can also be created from water using natural, renewable energy sources, such as solar and wind power. When compressed, it has a higher energy density than batteries, and is relatively easy to store and transport. These qualities give it the potential to be used in the future for power generation and a wide range of other applications,” stated Toyota at the launch of the vehicle.

In 2014 prices, the Mirai sold for around R710 000 in Japan, with generous subsidies attached to the purchase of the sedan.

BMW and Toyota are helping each other to develop the best possible fuel cell, notes Jung.

However, why then only have a BMW fuel-cell vehicle on the road in 2020 and beyond, if the Mirai is already available on showroom floors?

“We have to make sure the powertrain is sporty enough for our customers,” explains Jung.

That is why BMW is focusing on “getting more power” out of components similar to the ones being used by Toyota.

BMW’s 5-series GT fuel-cell prototype shows that the German manufacturer already has a fuel cell running “in a decent car”.

Jung emphasises that Toyota and BMW are different companies with different customers. The countries’ geography also differs. While Japan, as an island, does not need to consider the legal frameworks of its neighbours, Germany is bordered by nine countries, with frequent cross-border travel taking place between these entities.

Infrastructure
The dawn of electric vehicles saw the requirement for recharge points at homes, dealerships, shopping centres, the high street and other points where society converges.

However, while today’s drivers of electric vehicles need to plug in their cars after roughly every 150 km travelled, what are the requirements for a hydrogen car? A hydrogen filling station.

Fear not, says Jung.

“The good thing is that you do not need many new fuel stations to have an initial hydrogen network to cover the whole country.

“The advantage of a hydrogen gas station is that you can take an existing filling station and just add the hydrogen part to it. That makes it easier from a premises point of view, as you can do it step by step.”

Fuel group Total has already opened what it terms a multienergy filling station in Germany.

It is the world’s first public filling station where special pumps also dispense hydrogen using two different types of refuelling technology, namely industry-standard 700 bar compressed gaseous hydrogen (CGH2) storage technology, as well as cryocompressed hydrogen (CCH2) storage technology.

The latter technology, developed by BMW, involves storing gaseous hydrogen at a low temperature on board the vehicle at a pressure of up to 350 bar.

The technology is currently at an advanced development stage and will only come on stream for general use at a later stage.

CCH2 tanks offer up to 50% more hydrogen storage capacity than 700 bar CGH2 tanks and can support a driving range of more than 500 km.

Also, the travelling range of fuel-cell vehicles is similar to that of conventional internal combustion engine vehicles. And, as the geographic spread of the current refuelling network serves to ease empty-tank anxiety on conventional vehicles, it will be able to achieve the same goal with fuel-cell vehicles – which is another reason to use the existing network.

Also, hydrogen vehicles’ turnaround time at the pump is equal to that of conventional vehicles. Hydrogen refuelling takes a few minutes, as opposed to hours of charging an electric vehicle to full capacity. (This battery recharging time is expected to shrink rapidly over the next few years, however.)

Vehicle weight and the rolling resistance of tyres all play a role in hydrogen consumption, as is the case in any normal vehicle, explains Jung.

The top speed of fuel-cell vehicles is also similar to that of conventional vehicles.

The efficiency of the components and the fuel cell may influence hydrogen consumption, adds Jung.

“Next to reducing the cost of the fuel cell, we have to make sure that the efficiency increases as well. The more efficient the cell, the farther you can drive with the same amount of hydrogen. This is something we are working on as well.”

The roll-out of hydrogen infrastructure will influence the pace at which fuel-cell vehicles are adopted within society, notes Jung.

Germany will have 100 hydrogen refuelling stations by 2018, with the option of another 300 to follow as more vehicles come onto the market.

“We are also talking with neighbouring countries so that we can one day have hydrogen stations every 50 km to 80 km,” says Jung.

Is building infrastructure for fuel-cell vehicles much more expensive than deploying plug points for electric vehicles?

“One hydrogen station probably costs several hundred thousand euros, but with one station you can deliver a lot of hydrogen to many vehicles quickly,” says Jung.

Cost Comparison
A cost comparison between the commercial fuel-cell vehicle and its zero-emission competitor, the long-distance battery-electric vehicle, proves interesting.

In order to increase range in electric vehicles, one needs to increase the size of the battery – which is the most expensive component in electric vehicles and also rather heavy – says Jung.

If the battery is increased for a range of 400 km to 500 km, the fuel-cell vehicle, once readily available, should have the edge.

At a certain point, the hydrogen vehicle becomes cheaper, as one can increase the range on hydrogen vehicles relatively easily and cheaply by increasing the tank size, notes Jung.

Also, hydrogen is not heavy “at all”, with an increase in the size of the tank not really increasing the weight of the vehicle.

In the end, however, the decision of one over the other may come down to the customer. Customers will, for example, either want to refuel as quickly as possible, or prove willing to wait half an hour or more to recharge their vehicles, he says.

“In a zero-emission world, there is enough space for both vehicles.”

But what about the internal combustion engine? Is it all done and dusted for the 100-year-old machine?

This powertrain is already so sophisticated that any improvements will be “slow going”, says Jung. In contrast to this, fuel cells and electric vehicles “offer so much potential”.

Platinum
The fuel cell’s main component is the so-called ‘stack’. This is the most expensive part in the fuel-cell car, says Jung.

One of the main tasks in BMW’s current optimisation and cost reduction process is to reduce the load of platinum in this stack.

Jung and his team aim to use roughly the same amount of platinum in the fuel cell as the amount that is used in a catalytic converter placed in vehicles using an internal combustion engine.

Once BMW reaches that level, the cost of the platinum used in the fuel-cell vehicle becomes less problematic.

Platinum-group metals (PGMs) use within catalytic converters can range from 2 g to 12 g, depending on the size of the vehicle and the emission standards it has to adhere to.

“We are not far off. Once we are in range of sub-10 g per fuel cell, it is not a problem,” says Jung.

He hopes to reach that level around 2025.

At the current spot price of around $970 an ounce of platinum, the cost per gram is roughly $34.

South Africa is the world’s largest PGMs producer and could benefit from the widespread use of fuel-cell vehicles, even if the aim is to use as little platinum as possible in these vehicles.

The country has already benefited from the increased global use of catalytic converters.

Total catalytic converter exports reached R20.3-billion in 2015, making it South Africa’s top component export.

Jung says South African companies will need to become part of the supply chain of fuel-cell producers and suppliers, should it wish to benefit from the emergence of fuel-cell vehicles.

Government and the mining sector are already engaged in a strong push to develop a local fuel-cell industry.

March marked a year since the Chamber of Mines (CoM) launched a 100 kW commercial building baseload platinum fuel cell using low-pressure natural gas – a first in Africa.

The CoM says it “will continue to demonstrate the potential for local manufacture and the industrial use of platinum in South Africa and Africa; promote platinum beneficiation; capture and sustain technical and operational fuel cell knowledge and unlock South Africa’s natural resources through the use of natural gas and platinum”.

March also saw mining company Impala Platinum (Implats), in partnership with the Department of Science and Technology, the University of the Western Cape and Hydrogen South Africa Systems, unveil its prototype hydrogen fuel-cell forklift and refuelling station at its Impala Platinum Refineries, in Springs.

Implats says it plans to use hydrogen fuel cell technology as its main source of energy for materials handling and underground mining equipment.

Safety
“We have never had an explosion; we have never had a tank blow up,” emphasises Jung.

“The one thing that survives a crash in the fuel-cell vehicle is the tank – that is for sure.”

The 160 kg tank is made of aluminium reinforced with steel and wrapped with carbon fibre. A radiation shield is also wrapped around the tank, and the tank’s end caps are welded aluminium castings.

Petrol and diesel are also dangerous substances, adds Jung.

“We have successfully dealt with highly flammable liquids for 100 years already, have we not?”

The fuel cell in the BMW fuel-cell prototypes is currently in the engine compartment, with the tank in the existing centre tunnel.

Edited by Martin Zhuwakinyu
Creamer Media Senior Deputy Editor

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