Official: the 2028 BMW X5 will get a hydrogen version you can actually buy

An all-new generation of BMW X5 is in the works, and if these images of camouflaged test cars are anything to go by, it looks like it’ll get a bulked-up version of the new iX3’s Neue Klasse design language.

And yet, it’s not the looks that we’re here to talk about, because BMW has announced it will offer electric, plug-in hybrid, petrol, diesel and hydrogen powertrains in the fifth-gen SUV.

Yep, the iX5 Hydrogen will be BMW’s first ever series production hydrogen car when it arrives in 2028. Of course, BMW has been using a fleet of X5s to test its fuel cell technology – now a third-gen setup developed in collaboration with Toyota – for a good few years now, and it recently confirmed it was readying its plant in Austria for full production.

“By launching the new BMW X5 with a choice of five drive system variants, we are once again demonstrating our leading position as a technology pioneer,” said board member for development Joachim Post.

“Hydrogen has an essential part to play in global decarbonisation, which is why we are committed to driving the technology forward.”

BMW said ‘worldwide testing’ of its pilot fleet has been successful and that “hydrogen is the missing piece for completing the electric mobility puzzle where battery electric drive systems are not an optimal solution”.

But what about the lack of hydrogen fuelling stations? Well, BMW also said it is “actively involved in efforts to expand the hydrogen refuelling network” through its HyMoS (Hydrogen Mobility at Scale) initiative. This apparently aims to promote the development of refuelling stations in metropolitan areas with an initial pilot implementation in Germany and France.

Reckon BMW can make hydrogen cars a viable option?