Fortune: BMW backs hydrogen for transport with first series production car in 2028 -- Is H2 the future after all?

BMW backs hydrogen for transport with first series production car in 2028 — Is H2 the future after all?

Fortune | James Morris | July 27, 2025

Hydrogen fuel cell cars (FCEVs) have been on the market for a similar duration to the current wave of battery EVs (BEVs). But they have sold a tiny fraction in comparison. In 2024, 12,866 FCEVs were registered globally, versus 10.8 million BEVs. Still, some manufacturers have hopes that hydrogen has a role to play in transport.

One of these is BMW, which recently announced it would be bringing its first FCEV into series production in 2028. Fortune caught up with BMW Group’s General Project Manager Hydrogen Technology and Vehicle Projects, Jürgen Guldner, at a recent summit promoting FCEVs, among other hydrogen evangelists.

Toyota has been the leading seller of FCEVs with the Mirai launched in 2014, but it isn’t the only player. Hyundai has been selling its Nexo since 2018, and Honda, after offering various cars under the Clarity name from 2008 to 2021, brought its CR-V e:FCEV plug-in hybrid hydrogen car to market in 2024. BMW has been more cautious. The company has been trialling FCEVs with a pilot run of vehicles based on X5 since 2023. The iX5 Hydrogen is already a credible vehicle, with smooth driving and a familiar X5 interior. However, this won’t necessarily be the vehicle that BMW will launch in 2028.

“The good news is a hydrogen vehicle is an electric vehicle,” says Guldner. “It’s just a different way of storing the energy versus a battery, which also means that we can reuse a lot of the components like the electric motors in the car from our BEVs. It also has a unique value proposition. It’s the best of both worlds, with all the benefits of electric driving—acceleration, silent driving, zero emission—but you can refuel in 3 to 4 minutes and you’re 100% full and ready to go again.”...more
https://fortune.com/2025/07/27/bmw-ix5-hydrogen-car-production-2028-battery-electric-vehicle/

Some "people" will look at you with a straight face and say "Hydrogen is DEAD" and "Toyota is the New Kodak" while they spend hours and hours and hours of their short remaining life sitting at a "charger". And F* Elon! (You can't spell Felon without Elon!)

We'll see about that.

BMW VP Dr. Jürgen Guldner won't be wasting hundreds of hours of his remaining life