BMW TO BUILD FIRST SERIES PRODUCTION FUEL CELL CAR

IN THE WORLD

Munich, Germany.. BMW will be the first car manufacturer to put a small series of cars on the road using a fuel cell battery to generate electricity in the vehicle. A number of hydrogen-driven 7 Series sedans are being readied in time for next year's global EXPO 2000 "Clean Energy" project. After that, the 7 Series with a fuel cell battery could be launched on the market for the public.

The task of the fuel cell unit is to provide current for the on-board electrical system. In this way, the "electrochemical battery" has a chance to perform the task it can do best, which is to generate electricity with a very high degree of efficiency. Even with hydrogen operation, BMW still sees the combustion engine as offering the greatest advantages for powering the vehicle itself.

In the 7 Series, the compact fuel cell battery simply occupies the space of a conventional lead-acid battery. However, the unit exceeds the standard battery in terms of performance and endurance. As a result, the fuel cell APU (au auxiliary power unit) can not only supply power to all the conventional electrical equipment, but also makes some new functions possible. The future 7 Series will, for example, have an independent air conditioning system which supplies warm or cold air even when the engine is switched off, meaning zero emissions.

BMW has selected a partner and fuel cell supplier in the American specialist company International Fuel Cells (IFC), a subsidiary of United Technologies Corporation (UTC). International Fuel Cells has more experience with fuel cells than anyone else in the world. It is an exclusive supplier for NASA and is the only company in the world today to manufacture fuel cells in series production.

The fuel cell battery used by BMW is a unit consisting of PEM cells, which stands for "polymer electrolyte membrane." In a cell of this kind, current with a voltage of about one volt is generated by the oxidation of hydrogen and atmospheric oxygen. By connecting a number of cells in series, virtually any desired voltage can be produced.

The IFC fuel cell battery has two distinct advantages over other systems. Firstly, it does not require any complicated high-pressure supply lines, which means that its total efficiency is greater than in other systems and, moreover, that its design is less complex and costly. Secondly, it has a closed and largely loss-free water circuit. This does away with the need for an additional water tank, which otherwise has to be provided to supply the necessary moisture.

With this step, BMW is once again underscoring its leading role in the introduction of hydrogen as the vehicle fuel of the future. As a result, BMW can justifiably claim to have the most advanced hydrogen -powered vehicle in the world.

Journalist note: This and all press materials are available from the "Interactive News Bureau" at the BMW website. You can reach it by clicking "Contact BMW" from the main menu (http://www.bmwusa.com).