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Construction of Public Hydrogen Filling Station Underway

MUNICH - September 10, 2006: The installation of the hydrogen tank on 7 September 2006 marked the start of construction work on the first public hydrogen filling station in the Munich metropolitan area. It is situated in Detmoldstraße, not far from BMW Group's Research and Innovation Centre. The installation of an underground storage tank for liquid hydrogen at the TOTAL filling station is a first for Germany and means the hydrogen filling station will be visibly indistinguishable from a conventional petrol station. "This marks a significant advance in the integration of hydrogen as a future fuel into the day-to-day refuelling infrastructure," emphasises Daniel Le Breton, Director Transport and Energy of the TOTAL Group. As well as hydrogen, the new filling station will also offer petrol and diesel fuel and is scheduled to go on stream at the end of the year.

Professor Dr. Burkhard Göschel, BMW Member of the Board for Development and Purchasing, commented: "In tandem with setting up a hydrogen infrastructure, BMW Group is systematically driving forward its development of technology for hydrogen-powered vehicles. A BMW 7 Series with a hydrogen combustion engine is currently being developed to production standard."

The new filling station has been made possible thanks to the close partnership between BMW Group and TOTAL that is promoting hydrogen as an energy source for road traffic. The two companies signed an agreement in May 2006 which will see TOTAL setting up and operating three hydrogen filling stations in Europe by the end of 2007.