# BMW, GM to Jointly Develop Liquid Hydrogen Refueling Technology



## ChrisTO (Jan 24, 2002)

April 09, 2003 10:19

BMW, GM to Jointly Develop Liquid Hydrogen Refueling Technology

MUNICH, Germany and DETROIT, April 9 /PRNewswire/ -- General Motors Corp. and the BMW Group will jointly
develop refueling devices for liquid hydrogen vehicles, and invite other carmakers and suppliers to join this
initiative, the companies announced today.

"We want to accelerate the progress being made on the distribution and on-board storage of liquid hydrogen as
the future fuel," said Dr. Lawrence Burns, GM's vice president of Research and Development and Planning. "Both
compressed and liquid hydrogen hold promise to be used in hydrogen vehicles. The density of hydrogen in a
liquid state is especially attractive with respect to fuel distribution and vehicle range."

The collaborative work will center around setting global standards, establishing specifications for suppliers and
finding the best technical and cost effective solution, according to Christoph Huss, BMW's head of Science and
Traffic Policy.

"In the long term, we are expecting a nationwide network of 10,000 hydrogen filling stations in Germany," Huss
said. "Even today, however, we have to start working on a standard so that customers will not be confronted with
various systems. Standardizing the refueling coupler is a must. Liquid hydrogen provides the most convenient
way in transporting hydrogen fuel before a hydrogen pipeline infrastructure is in place. By teaming together, we
will help bring about the liquid hydrogen infrastructure faster."

GM and BMW's goal is to have affordable and compelling hydrogen vehicles for sale by 2010 and the companies
need to concentrate on the storage and handling technology to achieve this goal.

Future liquid-hydrogen coupling units will follow draft specifications by the European Integrated Hydrogen Project
(EIHP). The EIHP's drafts are the basis for the United Nations' Economic Commission of Europe (ECE) standard
for hydrogen-powered vehicles currently being negotiated.

"BMW and GM want this refueling system -- with the coupler as a core component -- to become a global
standard," Huss said.

"Hydrogen can be established as the fuel of the future faster if companies, such as BMW and GM, cooperate in
the development and standardization of hydrogen and fuel cell technologies," said Dr. Udo Winter, chief engineer
at GM Fuel Cell Activities.

By signing this development agreement, General Motors, the world's largest automobile manufacturer, and the
BMW Group, the world's only manufacturer concentrating solely on premium vehicles, have made a big step
forward in realizing and standardizing hydrogen technologies.

BMW Group In America

BMW of North America has been present in the United States since 1975. Since then, the BMW Group in the
United States has grown to include marketing, sales and financial service organizations for the BMW and MINI
brands and Rolls-Royce Motor Cars; DesignworksUSA, an industrial design firm in California; a technology office
in Silicon Valley and various other operations throughout the country. BMW Manufacturing Corp. in South
Carolina is part of BMW's global manufacturing network and is the exclusive manufacturing plant for all Z4
Roadster and X5 Sports Activity Vehicles. The BMW Group sales organization is represented in the U.S. through
networks of 340 BMW car, 327 BMW Sports Activity Vehicle, 148 BMW Motorcycle retailers, and 70 MINI
dealers. BMW (US) Holding Corp., the BMW Group's sales headquarters for North, Central and South America,
is located in Woodcliff Lake, New Jersey.

Information about BMW Group products is available to consumers via the Internet at http://www.bmwusa.com
http://www.bmwmotorcycles.com & http://www.miniusa.com

SOURCE BMW Group

/NOTE TO EDITORS: Journalist note: Information about the BMW Group and 
its products is available to journalists on-line at the BMW Group PressClub at 
the following address - www.press.bmwgroup.com./

/CONTACT: David J. Buchko, BMW Product Communications Manager, 
+1-201-307-3789, [email protected], Gordon B. Keil, BMW Product 
Communications Specialist, +1-201-307-3790, [email protected]/

/Web site: http://www.bmwusa.com/


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