The start of mass production of fuel cell systems for the BMW iX5 Hydrogen was given on August 31 at the BMW Group plant in Munich in the presence of the Prime Minister of Bavaria, Markus Soder, according to DW..

It is worth explaining what a “fuel cell” is, which appeared even before the fuel for an internal combustion engine, but then was almost forgotten thanks to the efforts of the oil kings.

So, a fuel cell (fuel cell) is a chemical current source that converts the chemical energy of the fuel into electrical energy by a direct method.. The hydrogen-oxygen fuel cell contains a proton-conducting polymer membrane that separates the two electrodes, the anode and the cathode..

Hydrogen loses electrons at the anode. Further, hydrogen cations are conducted through the membrane to the cathode, and electrons are given to the external circuit. And all - without any mechanical work and combustion. Fuel cell efficiency reaches 60%.

The year of birth of the fuel cell can be considered 1839, when a note was published by the British scientist William Robert Grove, in which he described an experiment in which he discovered a constant deviation of the galvanometer needle between two platinum electrodes, one washed by oxygen, the other by hydrogen. Later, he found out that the electrolysis process is reversible, that is, hydrogen and oxygen can be combined into water molecules without burning, but with the release of heat and electricity..

The Bavarians have been developing a model of a fuel cell car since 2015 based on the BMW X5. Since the summer of 2021, it has been successfully tested on the roads of Germany, and in the winter in Sweden, near the Arctic Circle.

At the headquarters of other German automakers - Volkswagen with its subsidiaries Audi and Porsche, Mercedes-Benz, a subsidiary of the Stellantis Opel concern, the European branch of Ford - they consider fuel cell cars to be an unpromising direction, and therefore, as part of the decarbonization of vehicles, they rely on electric vehicles.

Another thing is trucks.. It is widely believed that in this segment it is better to move away from diesel (or gasoline) towards hydrogen, especially with large tonnage, since excessively large and, most importantly, too heavy batteries may be required to transport goods over long distances, and besides.

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Be that as it may, no one in Germany, except BMW, is now undertaking to produce H2 passenger cars.. Yes, and the Bavarian Motor Plants themselves are quite successfully switching to the production of electric vehicles and at the latest in 2030 they intend to equip half of their products exclusively with electric motors..

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But at the same time, BMW Chairman Oliver Zipse still does not want to completely abandon other technical options.. "

So we are still talking about electromobility, only about its other variety.? Yes, because in fact, hydrogen cars are also electric vehicles..

Only in them, the operation of the electric motor is ensured not by a battery recharged from the network, but by a battery that receives electricity from the fuel cells in which it is generated - without harmful emissions into the atmosphere, during a chemical reaction between hydrogen and oxygen.

Actually, the production of finished systems with fuel cells of fuel cells has now begun in Munich. However, the key component, the fuel cells themselves, is received by BMW from the Japanese corporation Toyota, which is already producing the second generation of the world's most famous model of the Mirai hydrogen car.. Global sales of this model were 6,000 units last year..

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