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German automobile manufacturing giant, BMW have announced that within the next four years, their Hybrid car would be in bulk production and sales. This announcement comes in the wake of the environmentally friendly and phenomenally popular Hybrid cars that have been launched by many other car manufacturers.
BMW’s record of innovation and quality that has enriched the automobile world would mean that this development would be another standard setting achievement that others would have to follow.
BMW plans to introduce engines that would run both on hydrogen and petroleum on the 7 series BMW models. Some prototypes are already under trial in various countries and engineers and researchers are getting practical feedback which enables them to keep perfecting their to-be-launched Hybrid car.
It is BMW’s intention to launch a truly environment friendly, high performance and good-looking car.
Instead of using the usual fuels used so far by Hybrid car manufacturers, BMW opted for a hydrogen-petroleum combination in an internal combustion engine. This has entailed much more research and development as such engines require fuel in liquid form.
The problem is to keep the hydrogen sufficiently cool, to prevent evaporation while in the car as well as in transit. BMW claims that it has solved both the problems of keeping the temperature low in the engine as well as a method of transporting hydrogen, which will ensure that it does not evaporate during transit.
BMW sees hydrogen as the fuel of the future for automobiles. It estimates that it will take about a couple of decades before a car can actually be run on hydrogen exclusively. They however claim that this is an achievable goal.
BMW claims that they have been working for the past three decades on technology that could well deliver an engine that can power a car using only hydrogen as fuel. They have already developed a car running on water, one that emits water vapor at the exhaust and are well on the way to a revolutionary solar powered method to wed with water to extract hydrogen fuel.
BMW says that it has chosen hydrogen as a source of power for cars as it offers the best solution to the problem of vehicle emissions causing environmental pollution. Hydrogen does not release dangerous emissions on combustion and causes no damage to the air. It does not deplete any natural resource and can be generated from recyclable sources.
BMW may well be zeroing in on hydrogen fuel extracted from water using solar energy. Such a technology was showcased at the Expo 2000 through the BMW 750 hl prototype exhibited. BMW along with its partners may be lagging behind in the mass production of Hybrid cars, but are certainly in the forefront of the Hydrogen Hybrid technology.
In the very near future, these developments and innovations will benefit all of us. We will also be effecting considerable savings in fuel costs and causing little or no pollution to the atmosphere. It would not mean driving around in little uncomfortable and low powered cars. With cars like the BMW Hybrid, you can expect sophistication, power, elegance and style, without the disadvantage of environmental pollution.