BMW 2007 Annual Report Download - page 223

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Report: A matter of consistency.
bring the potential of the two-mode hybrid technology to the market as fast and as cost-efficiently
as possible, explains Rump. Of course, at the beginning everyone was a little sceptical whether
such close collaboration between competitors could even work. But the results exceeded all our
expectations. While engineers from all four manufacturers are developing the components for the
hybrid system together in the core area of the Hybrid Development Center, developers from the
BMW Group are working on the brand-specific application of the hybrid drives in a separate secu-
rity zone. This guarantees that a BMW with hybrid drive will still be distinctive as a BMW. The de-
velopers’ aim is to create a comprehensive modular system from which the BMW Group can offer
its customers the best hybrid solution tailored to each model.
Nevertheless, the declared aim of the BMW Group is to cut carbon dioxide emissions by
100 percent over the long term. That sounds visionary, but is already reality on roads in Europe
and the United States. One hundred models of the world’s first series-produced, hydrogen-driven
luxury sedan, the BMW Hydrogen 7, have been on the roads since spring of 2007. Their drivers
have meanwhile clocked up more than 2.7 million kilometres with the Hydrogen 7 fleet and pro-
vided researchers like Wolfgang Strobl with valuable insights. In many respects hydrogen is
the ideal fuel, says the EfficientDynamics manager at the BMW Group Forschung und Technik
GmbH. It combusts without leaving any residue, is highly effective and can be produced cost-
effectively in large quantities in a way that is CO2-neutral. The necessary technology already
exists – for instance in the form of solar power stations that have been generating electricity in
California for the megacity of Los Angeles for 20 years – and has been successfully proved and
tested. The go-ahead for the development of the necessary capacities and infrastructure is still
pending.
Strobl and his research colleagues are using the intervening period to work, among other things,
on improving tank technology. Because although hydrogen is extremely environmental-friendly,
it is also a very volatile energy source. The hydrogen is stored at minus 250 degrees Celsius in
refrigerated liquid form in a tank similar to a thermos flask. 70 layers of wafer-thin aluminium foil and
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