![\"BMW](\"https:\/\/www.globalvillagespace.com\/tech\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/hydrogen-hurdles-why-bmws-fuel-cell-future-in-the-uk-faces-major-roadblocks.jpg\" "\\"BMW")
<\/a><\/p>\n\n iX5 Hydrogen prototypes were used as a testbed for production FCEV due 2028<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
BMW has said it won’t make sense to launch its upcoming FCEV here with such limited infrastructure<\/p>\n
\nThe lack of a hydrogen fuelling infrastructure in the UK remains a big stumbling block for the roll-out of hydrogen cars and could lead BMW<\/a> not to offer its new FCEV\u00a0here.<\/p>\n
Right now the UK\u00a0has just three hydrogen filling stations for cars\u00a0and only three more in the pipeline, according to data from UK H2 Mobility.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe sincerely hope that the infrastructure will develop further, because right now\u00a0the UK is not in a condition where [launching] would make sense,\u201d J\u00fcrgen Guldner, head of BMW\u2019s hydrogen vehicle project, told a panel of experts at an event in London on 5 June.<\/p>\n
BMW plans to sell its first FCEV\u00a0in 2028<\/a>\u00a0but hasn\u2019t revealed which vehicle will receive the powertrain or where it will be sold.\u00a0<\/p>\n
It will use Toyota<\/a>\u2019s fuel-cell stack, which converts hydrogen to electricity. Currently Toyota is the only mainstream manufacturer offering an FCEV in the UK,\u00a0the Mirai saloon<\/a>, costing \u00a364,690.<\/p>\n
Back in 2013, UK H2 Mobility predicted there would be 1.6 million hydrogen vehicles on Britain’s roads by 2030. However, BEV\u00a0technology has since come to dominate the race for zero-emissions propulsion, and so far this year no FCEVs have been sold in the UK.<\/p>\n
Globally the picture is not much better, with sales of all FCEVs\u00a0(including lorries and buses) falling 22% last year to 12,866, according to figures published by Hydrogen Insights.<\/p>\n
By contrast, 32,378 battery-electric cars were sold in the UK in May alone, new figures from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders show.<\/p>\n
Proponents of hydrogen including BMW and Toyota argue that FCEV technology is needed to allow the entire vehicle market to shift to zero-emissions propulsion.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur research shows that customers would be people who drive longer distances and those who live in the cities,\u201d Guldner said. \u201cOur strategy is to have a second technology in our portfolio, then people can choose which one they want.\u201d<\/p>\n
Producers meanwhile argue that creating green hydrogen is a great way to store renewable energy in those unpredictable periods when too much electricity is being generated.<\/p>\n
A range of obstacles remain in the way \u2013\u00a0some solvable, others less so. The high cost of FCEV technology would come down if the demand were there, Guldner said.<\/p>\n
The company is also comfortable packaging large enough high-pressure tanks into the body structure to give decent range, currently below that of a diesel equivalent.\u00a0<\/p>\n
However, car companies alone can\u2019t nudge the infrastructure in the right direction, and those are best placed to find the money are finding it very difficult after what happened to EV charger companies. They raised a lot of investment to spend on building an infrastructure that turned to be too big for initial demand.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cA lot of those businesses are really struggling today,\u201d Christopher Jackson, CEO of Protium, a green hydrogen provider, said at the same London event. \u201cThen you come in as a hydrogen player and tell the investors ‘well, we’re going to do something that sounds the same as that’. It is a harder story.\u201d<\/p>\n
Protium is currently building three hydrogen fuelling stations, aimed at filling lorries, and predicts a big jump in demand between 2028 and 2030 as the clock runs down on the government\u2019s net-zero targets.<\/p>\n
One problem is that, right now, hydrogen isn\u2019t competing against BEV technology\u00a0but cheaper fossil-fuelled combustion engines too.<\/p>\n
That target customer driving longer distances or street-parked in the city already has their ideal powertrain, and that won\u2019t change until the sale of ICE vehicles running on petrol or diesel is banned in 2035.<\/p>\n
Without a government nudge in the form of mandated hydrogen infrastructure or higher tax on fossil fuels or urban bans, the market for FCEVs is essentially dormant until that date.\u00a0<\/p>\n
There\u2019s no help here from influential government advisers the Climate Change Committee.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe see only a very niche, if any, role [for hydrogen] in surface transport,\u201d it said in its Seventh Carbon Budget, a long term vision for the future of decarbonisation.<\/p>\n
Those suppliers that banked on a speedier ramp-up are suffering as vehicle manufacturers dial back their plans.<\/p>\n
For example, French supply\u00a0giant Forvia, a joint-venture partner of Stellantis and Michelin in fuel-cell maker Symbio, has reduced its investment spend.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe market does not move as quickly as we assumed two to three years ago.\u201d CEO Martin Fischer\u00a0said on his company\u2019s earnings call in May. \u201cWe are adjusting our efforts to these new realities.\u201d<\/p>\n
Meanwhile\u00a0OPmobility (formerly Plastic Omnium), a supplier of hydrogen tanks for Stellantis vans, also said on its earnings call that it was reducing the speed of its production ramp-up\u00a0\u201cbecause of some delays coming from customers\u201d.<\/p>\n