Joaquin Ruhi
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Lost amidst far higher-profile BMW debuts at the September 2019 Frankfurt Auto Show such as the fugly 4-Series coupe, 3rd-gen X6, 8-Series Gran Coupe and Vision M Next Concept was what you see above, the i Hydrogen NEXT, clearly nothing more than a hydrogen fuel cell version of the latest BMW X5.
Its initial news release had an entire sub-section touting BMW's hydrogen fuel cell partnership with Toyota, dating to 2013, including "testing (of) a small fleet of prototype BMW 5 Series GT hydrogen fuel cell vehicles powered by a jointly developed drive system with a Toyota fuel cell stack."
Also lost in the shuffle was a follow-up BMW news release on the i Hydrogen NEXT powertrain, including "up to 125 kW (170 hp) of electric energy from the chemical reaction between hydrogen and oxygen from the ambient air” with a fully-integrated 5th-generation eDrive unit (including peak power battery positioned above the electric motor) from the BMW iX3 producing a total system output of 275 kW (374 hp). The wording of the collaboration shifts slightly, with Toyota fuel cells alongside a fuel cell stack and overall system developed by the BMW Group.
Most notably, the news release states that "This hydrogen fuel cell electric powertrain will be piloted in a small series based on the current BMW X5 that the BMW Group plans to present in 2022", a fact further confirmed by a Bloomberg via Automotive News Europe story.