Are BMW about to announce a new Z4 coupe…

[Pondy]

JCB have designed a hydrogen engine that runs on hydrogen. It works like a petrol engine.

Toyota developed the Hydrogen engine years ago. But it seems to have died a death, for reasons that are not clear for me. Apart from the EV revolution.
Hydrogen has it's shortcomings, not least that it is highly volatile, but petrol isn't exactly inert and that has been around for 140 years.

Hydrogen is going to be replacing natural gas for our heating in the UK, apparently, but God knows when, or if! Bosch have spent millions and millions on R&D for hybrid gas/H and fully H boilers, so they will want their money back sometime soon! :|

It seems there are multiple ways to go: EV, Hydrogen, synthetic fuels, etc, but the R&D costs fortunes so the manufacturers wait for guidance and commitment from Govs before ploughing the money in. We are at a major crossroads I fear, with most traffic (in the UK at least) heading towards the EV exit. Not for me. I would rather walk!

 

[TitanTim]

There is still hope yet

https://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/markets/article-12108457/Ban-petrol-diesel-cars-faces-axe-EV-fears.html

Apologies to have gone completely off topic :roll:

Tim.

 

[axelleveau]

Alright guys let me explain as you seem to focus on the positive and high level stuff like the press would do...

Hydrogen is as, if not more, complicated to store than electricity in chemical form. In particular it needs more volume to do so, and weight ends up not being much better. So knowing it is a pain to store onboard which limits the amount of energy you can have: would you decide to burn it at an average efficiency of around 30% or to convert it in a fuel cell with an efficiency of 60% (keep in mind the combustion engine improvements will come as fractions of percents while the fuel cell still have a long way to go).

Moreover, as the hydrogen is complicated to store, you end up needing all the underfloor space to do so which highly compromises the possible architectures, eg: Rear wheel drive will cost you on of your tanks, exhaust cannot run down the car...

Don't get me wrong the government is composed of peanuts (for some reason the same guys keep being re-elected though...) and making stupid decisions on the way to push for change and there are tons of companies lobbying and jumping on it to make easy money but you cannot ignore the engineering challenges because that match your taste better :?

 

[BeardyJon]

There’s been a few attempts in the last couple of years to design a Z4 Shooting Brake, all of which were more successful than the BMW designers were. The official BMW rear end is disgusting.

Concepts...




Vs BMW official Z4 Touring…

 

[dmo]

The concepts are stunning. I'm in love with this coupe

 

[dmo]

There’s been a few attempts in the last couple of years to design a Z4 Shooting Brake, all of which were more successful than the BMW designers were. The official BMW rear end is disgusting.

Concepts...




Vs BMW official Z4 Touring…

That deep red one is

 

[PaperSniper]

No soft top? No interest.

Doug