by Smartie Pants

Created on: July 08, 2007

The BMW Hydrogen cars are far from the first one, GM made a van, the "Electrovan" that ran on hydrogen fuel cells back in 1966. In fact, there are already many hydrogen cars out there. So many that the science to make them seems to be in a adolescent stage already, at least a child stage compared to the infancy stage we might guess because of just now general awareness. This isn't BMW's first child either they unveiled a Mini that ran on hydrogen way back in 2001.

BMW, however, is bringing a solar powered hydrogen maker to market it has developed with some heavy weight German companies like Messer AG and Solar Millennium AG and fuel cells it has collaborated with IFC on. That is the problem, isolating the hydrogen cheaply. Hydrogen is the most abundant element in the universe, getting it's easy. The BMW model says you can have your hydrogen plant in your back yard if you like, don't wait for the supporting infrastructure. It has also developed automatic refueling stations so you can get more than half a tank full away from your house.

The BMW 750 hL is no slouch, its 5.4 liter V-12 power plant is a hybrid, so it can run on gas also. BMW hasn't really released the road test results on this vehicle, but it is a V-12 and when BMW says "excellent torque and acceleration" you can bet they mean it.

This special 7 series car gets the electricity to run from a fuel cell. It really gets it, the fuel cell provides enough power to run the a/c, compressor and all, all by itself.

Although the 750hL is deemed a "Production Ready Car" I bet it will be awhile before you can browse the local newspaper to find the best deal in town for one. It is getting closer, maybe we are just trying to drain every bit of oil and money from consumers pockets first. Like I said, it's getting closer

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