BMW and Bosch develop a hydrogen tank as flat as an electric car battery

A consortium, made up in particular of BMW and of Boschannounces work on a tank ofhydrogen flat and no longer cylindrical. The project is to achieve a tank that takes up no more space than an electric battery and which will save space and comfort in the design of future cars running on hydrogen.

The aim of this consortium, called FlatHyStorn, is that this type of tank should be less bulky than at present and enable more comfortable vehicles to be developed. This consortium is supported by the German federal government and intends to build its first prototypes by the end of 2022.

The design of hydrogen vehicles is constrained by the shape of the tank

The objective is that these new hydrogen tanks occupy the same space as that usually dedicated to the integration of batteries in electric cars. In fact, these tanks must be much flatter than today, in order to be perfectly placed in the foundation of the car, between the axles. Something impossible today, because the tanks designed to accommodate hydrogen are cylindrical and take up a lot of space. They also represent a real constraint when designing the passenger compartment of the car and optimizing the comfort of its occupants.

Such a system would make it possible to further democratize the hydrogen cars. To note that BMWinvolved in this project, has so far only presented one vehicle of this type, the iX5 Hydrogen, which is due to go on sale this year.

As a reminder, a hydrogen car can travel great distances without producing the slightest episode of CO2, the vehicle emitting only water. In addition, refueling only takes a few minutes unlike recharging with electricity. Toyota, Honda and hyundai are today the manufacturers most involved in the development of cars equipped with fuel cells and running on hydrogen.