The German hydrogen consortium comprising BMW, Bosch, Hexagon Purus and Testnet Engineering is collaborating on the development of flat hydrogen tanks for the undersides of future fuel cell vehicles. The first prototypes of the 700 bar high-pressure storage tank will be developed by the end of 2022.
The announced goal is to enable hydrogen tanks to be integrated into the installation space normally provided for EV battery pack integration. To do this, the hydrogen tank first had to become flatter than before. While cuboid battery modules would do well to fill the existing installation space in the underbody between the axles, so far hydrogen tanks have not done so.
High-pressure tanks are cylindrical and therefore have different installation space requirements. In the Toyota Mirai, one large H2 fuel tank is placed longitudinally below the center console, while the others are mounted laterally on the rear axle. In the Hyundai Nexo, three fuel tanks are also mounted around the rear axle: two are located laterally under the rear seats, and a third is located behind the axle below the trunk. The diameter of each tank is approximately 30 cm. By comparison, the flattest BEV battery is only 11cm tall.
In the "FlatHyStor" consortium, the Kassel-based company Hexagon Purus plays a key role: Hexagon Purus will develop the corresponding high-pressure hydrogen cylinders and the corresponding vehicle integration structure. Bosch will provide the tank valve and high pressure regulator technology, and Testnet Engineering will validate these components.
The announcement did not specify for which vehicle the integrated solution would be developed. BMW is currently developing only one hydrogen vehicle: the iX5 Hydrogen. A small series based on the combustion engine X5 is planned. The individual cells of the fuel cell come from Toyota. The fuel cell stack, the electric stack, and the entire drive system are developed by the BMW Group. The project "FlatHyStor – Functional Design and Testing of Innovative Hydrogen Tank Systems" is funded by the German government with a total budget of 6 million euros.
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