One of the most important vehicles that BMW will be displaying at the Mondial De L’Automobile in Paris at the end of the month probably won’t be grabbing eyes like a lime-green supercar, or a decked-out SUV concept. No, the BMW Hydrogen7 looks like a normal, long-wheelbase 7-Series, with a standard silver paintjob and no stickers. Its unadorned exterior is deceiving, however, as it’s not only one of the most advanced vehicles to debut at the show, but will be BMW’s first production hydrogen automobile, a vehicle six years in the making.
Because hydrogen fueling stations are few and far between (even in Germany), the Hydrogen7 was designed as a dual-fuel vehicle, with separate tanks for gasoline and hydrogen. The car maintains a 74-litre (19.5-gal) gasoline tank, which is good for a range of 500 km (310 mi), as well as a hydrogen tank that’s capable of holding 8 kg worth of liquefied hydrogen that has a range of 200 km (125 mi).