Earlier this month BMW kicked off its Neue Klasse era with the iX3, an electric crossover that debuts a new design language, platform, powertrains and technology for the Bavarian brand. BMW has already teased us with the next-generation 3 Series that should debut in a few months, and which will be just one of 40 new cars coming out in the next three years. Now, just days after announcing the next-gen X5 would be offered with a hydrogen powertrain, BMW dropped a bunch of photos of a camouflaged iX5 Hydrogen prototype and gave new details about what we can expect from the model.
BMW says the new X5 will offer five different powertrain options globally when it launches in 2028, though only four will be offered in the U.S.: Nonhybrid internal combustion gas, plug-in hybrid, fully electric, hydrogen fuel cell, and the one we won’t get, diesel. That’s a first for BMW, and the company says the broad selection “lays the foundations for successfully meeting the varying demands and needs of customers worldwide both now and in the future.” But while the new X5 will share its looks and technology with the Neue Klasse cars, underneath it will probably stick with the current CLAR architecture.
Neue Klasse looks
This iX5 Hydrogen prototype is pretty heavily camouflaged, but there’s still a lot to talk about. Overall proportions and shape are similar to the iX3 just scaled up a size, and it’ll have the same wing-shaped face with triangular headlights and skinny kidney grilles. Aside from exhaust tips and probably larger lower front bumper intakes, the internal-combustion X5s should look identical to the electric and hydrogen SUVs. This prototype has very subtle flares bolted on around the wheel arches, which is probably just to further obscure the design of the fender flares, but it could mean the Hydrogen model will have a wider track than other X5s.
Where the iX3 has more traditional flush door handles that pop out when unlocked, the next X5 has something new. At the base of the B-pillar and C-pillar, right on the edge of the front and rear doors, there are these little protrusions that are kind of like the front door pull on a Ford Mustang Mach-E. But these look a bit more substantial than the Ford’s, and unlike on the Mach-E where there’s a round button on the pillar you press for the door to open, it seems like you’ll actually pull on the BMW’s thingies (that’s a technical term) to open the door.
BMW will start building more hydrogen stations, too
BMW has experimented with hydrogen a lot in the past, including making a fleet of around 100 prototypes based on the current X5, but the new iX5 will be the brand’s first series-production hydrogen offering. It’ll use the third-generation fuel-cell system that has been developed in collaboration with Toyota, which BMW says is more compact, powerful and efficient. The company calls it “the missing piece for completing the electric mobility puzzle, and the BMW Group’s vice president of hydrogen vehicles Michael Rath says the iX5 Hydrogen will offer “the BMW-typical driving pleasure.”
The biggest hurdle for hydrogen vehicles globally is the infrastructure, which is essentially non-existent in North America. To that end, BMW has started a Hydrogen Mobility at Scale (HyMoS) initiative to expand the hydrogen station network. Says BMW:
The aim of this initiative is to increase the economic viability of hydrogen mobility ecosystems by pooling the demand for all types of vehicles, including trucks, buses, and passenger cars. This will help to reach an optimal distribution and usage of hydrogen stations. The initiative supports existing hydrogen ecosystem projects in achieving their full potential by sharing experiences across projects and providing ground support of its industry partners. A pilot phase started with the support of existing ecosystems in Germany and France to gather experiences for deployment to further metropolitan areas and a potential later expansion to other countries.
Production of the iX5 Hydrogen is set to start in 2028 alongside the other X5s, so we’re still at least a year or two away from an official reveal.
