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BMW Developing Gasoline Fuel Cell in Cooperation with DELPHI

29 April 1999

BMW Developing Gasoline Fuel Cell in Cooperation with DELPHI Automotive Systems

    MUNICH, Germany, April 29 -- Joining forces with DELPHI
Automotive Systems, the largest automotive supplier in the world, BMW is
developing an entirely new type of fuel cell able to generate electricity out
of gasoline.
    Since this innovative energy converter uses conventional engine fuel, it
does not require any other source of energy such as methanol and therefore
does not call for any elaborate change in on-board technologies and in the
network of filling stations.
    The new fuel cell is called SOFC for short or Solid Oxide Fuel Cell and
converts hydrogen into electricity at a temperature of approximately 800
Degrees Celsius or 1470 Degrees Fahrenheit via a circonium oxide ceramic
transformer.
    The first step in this process of conversion is to evaporate the gasoline,
obtaining hydrogen through a splitting process in a reformer also operating at
roughly 800 Degrees Celsius.  This hydrogen then reacts with oxygen in the air
fed in during the process, generating electricity and, as a waste product,
water.
    Compared with the proton-exchange-membrane fuel cell (PEM) generally still
proposed today, which in theory may also be supplied with hydrogen via a
reformer running on petrol, the SOFC is far less sensitive to impurities in
the reforming process.  A further advantage is that it does not require any
expensive precious metal electrodes.  Accordingly, the SOFC is clearly
superior to the PEM, especially as the latter is subject to the further
restriction that it should preferably only be run on pure hydrogen.  With the
Solid Oxide Fuel Cell, on the other hand, motorists will not have to wait
until a comprehensive and widespread hydrogen supply infrastructure is in
place.

    Replacing the Battery and the Alternator in the Long Term
    Fitted in BMW passenger cars, the Solid Oxide Fuel Cell will serve to
supply electric energy to the on-board network, thus doing the job for which
it is most suitable: generating electricity at a high level of efficiency and
operating independently of the engine.  The actual drive power for the vehicle
itself should in BMW's opinion still be provided by the combustion engine with
its well-known advantages.
    In the future, therefore, the compact fuel cell battery will merely take
the place of a conventional lead battery.  With the fuel cell exceeding the
power output and capacity of a lead battery by far, however, this fuel-cell
APU (Auxiliary Power Unit) is not only able to supply power to all
conventional electrical power-consuming items in the car, but also allows new
functions such as air conditioning when the car is at a standstill.
    In the long term the fuel cell may even be able to replace the electrical
alternator in the car and allow the use of a much smaller lead battery only
required for starting the engine and in emergencies.  The introduction of the
SOFC therefore marks the beginning of a new era with cars requiring more and
more electric power in the future.

    BMW's First Hydrogen Cars with Fuel Cell in the Year 2000
    While the ongoing development of the SOFC in the gasoline-powered
automobile will still take another five years or so, BMW will be the first car
maker in the world to introduce a PEM fuel cell battery for generating
electric power in the car as a standard feature.  Starting next year, BMW will
be building a small number of 7 Series sedans with a hydrogen-powered
combustion engine for the worldwide EXPO 2000 Clean Enerqy Project.  Already
carrying liquid hydrogen on board for the power unit, these cars will be
fitted with a PEM fuel cell generating electric power from hydrogen and air.