BMW Starts Building The Most Unique X5 Ever

BMW believeshydrogen fuel cell technology still has a futurein the automotive industry, which is why the German automaker will build anFCEV version of its popular X5 SUV. Initialproduction of the hydrogen drivetrainbegan earlier this year, and now BMW has officially begun manufacturing the iX5 Hydrogen at its Munich Research and Innovation Center (FIZ) in Germany.

The iX5 will be very low volume like most FCEVs, hence why BMW decided to build it in a smaller factory with only 900 employees. Each employee works on six projects simultaneously, which hydrogen specialists on-hand for the iX5 to ensure it's ready for series production.

"Production of the BMW iX5 Hydrogen and the BMW-developed fuel cell systems demonstrates our supreme flexibility and unrivaled know-how in the field of small-scale manufacture," said Milan Nedeljkovic, Member of the Board of Management of BMW AG responsible for Production. "It shows we already boast the necessary expertise for integrating hydrogen technology into the BMW iFACTORY production system as an additional type of drive."

The base2023 BMW X5is supplied by the Spartanburg, South Carolina plant, which is thenfitted with a new floor assemblythat can accommodate two hydrogen tanks in the transmission tunnel area and under the rear seats. Then during the assembly stage, BMW installs the 12V and 400V electrical systems, including the high-performance battery, electric motor, and fuel cell.