Andrea Hoffmann-ToppAndreaHoffmann-ToppHead of Content Strategy Automotive & Industry
5 min
At the Steyr plant, BMW is integrating test methods and processes developed at the hydrogen competence centre in Munich.BMW Group
BMW is preparing its Austrian Steyr plant for series production of the iX5 Hydrogen from 2028. On former V8 production space, fuel-cell manufacturing is being integrated into a site already producing petrol, diesel and electric powertrains.
Where V8 petrol engines were once assembled, BMW plans to build the fuel-cell system for the future iX5 Hydrogen. At its Steyr plant in Austria, the Germans are preparing series production of BMW’s third-generation fuel-cell system from 2028. Test benches are already in place, production equipment is being adapted and the future manufacturing processes are being developed. At the same time, the next prototype phase is progressing at pace.
For Steyr, however, the technology shift is less disruptive than the move from V8 engines to fuel cells might suggest. The plant already operates a diversified powertrain portfolio, producing petrol, diesel and electric drives in parallel. Around 4,700 employees manufacture more than 1.2 million powertrains a year. Series production of electric drivetrains was added in summer 2025. Fuel cells will now extend that range with another propulsion technology.
How does Steyr move from development to series production?
BMW has reached a stage with the fuel-cell system where function and performance alone are no longer enough. Test methods must be defined for series production, processes stabilised and the system validated across different operating conditions.
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Teams in Steyr are taking methods developed at BMW’s hydrogen competence centre in Munich and adapting them for industrial manufacturing. Employees are being trained for the new production processes in parallel. BMW is deliberately using the close link between development and production that already exists at the site for diesel and electric drives.
Why do five powertrains increase manufacturing complexity?
Josef Hochreiter, Head of Hydrogen Vehicles at BMW Group: “The current testing shows how successfully the fuel-cell system, high-voltage battery and electric drive already work together and how consistently we are developing the technology towards series production.”Ness Rubey
The new X5 will put that flexibility to the test. BMW plans five powertrain variants within one model line: petrol, diesel, plug-in hybrid, battery-electric and fuel cell. Greater customer choice translates into additional variants, components, test procedures and supply-chain requirements for manufacturing.
BMW is therefore trying to contain the differences at vehicle-architecture level. Standardised geometric specifications for energy storage and powertrain components are intended to allow different drive types to fit within the same production structure. The goal is to reduce complexity and manufacturing cost while making output easier to scale.
That logic is particularly important for the hydrogen X5. Unlike a high-volume model, demand for the fuel-cell version remains difficult to predict. The more dedicated equipment and processes a powertrain needs, the higher the volume required before the investment pays back. BMW therefore has an industrial incentive to build the fuel-cell system at the lowest possible additional infrastructure cost.
How does the hydrogen tank fit into the platform?
The hydrogen storage system shows how far BMW is taking this approach. Instead of designing the vehicle around a small number of large pressure vessels, the company uses a flat storage system with seven interconnected and parallel 700-bar high-pressure tanks made from carbon-fibre-reinforced composite material. They sit within a metal frame and are controlled via a central main valve.
The system is intended to hold at least seven kilograms of hydrogen. From a manufacturing perspective, however, the packaging is just as important as capacity. The flat storage system uses a geometry compatible with BMW’s new Gen6 high-voltage battery. That helps make it possible to produce the hydrogen version on the same line as other X5 powertrains while also preserving more interior space.
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BMW development board member Joachim Post has called the concept “packaging Tetris”. Behind the phrase is a serious industrialisation issue: the earlier a powertrain variant requires its own vehicle structure, the more expensive it becomes to bring into production. For the iX5 Hydrogen, BMW is therefore trying to limit deviations largely to components that are specific to the fuel-cell powertrain.
The product targets are also becoming clearer. BMW says the new storage system should enable a range of up to 750 kilometres and be refuelled in less than five minutes. The vehicle is still under development, however, and binding WLTP consumption figures are not yet available.
BMW does not position hydrogen as an alternative for every battery-electric customer. Hydrogen specialist Jürgen Guldner describes the target group as follows: “There are customers for whom battery-electric mobility is not practical – for example because of long distances, charging infrastructure or usage patterns.”
That distinction matters for production planning. If the fuel-cell model does not need to address a mass market, the economics of manufacturing smaller volumes become more important. Flexible production then means more than simply offering many variants. It also has to prevent a niche powertrain from being overwhelmed by high fixed costs.
How large could the hydrogen niche become?
How large that niche may become remains open. In a 2026 automotive survey, only one per cent of 933 potential car buyers named hydrogen as the preferred powertrain for their next vehicle. Battery-electric vehicles reached 21 per cent. Such surveys are not sales forecasts, but they illustrate the conditions under which BMW is beginning industrialisation.
A dedicated factory would be difficult to justify for volumes on that scale. Adding another powertrain variant to an existing model line can be calculated differently, provided the vehicle architecture and manufacturing system share enough common elements.
The requirements for suppliers are changing as well. Fuel-cell systems need cooling, valves, sensors, air supply and power electronics, while the tank system creates additional demand around composite materials and high-pressure technology. Investments still have to work at limited initial volumes. The ability to start small and expand capacity later therefore becomes more valuable than maximising capacity from day one.
A hydrogen refuelling station has been operating at Memmingen Airport since April 2026. A five-megawatt electrolyser is planned there to produce green hydrogen in future. The site combines mobility, logistics and energy supply. Regional clusters of this kind could play a larger role during the ramp-up than an immediate nationwide passenger-car refuelling network. Where fleets and other industrial users aggregate demand, infrastructure can be utilised more effectively.
For private car users, however, long range and short refuelling times only provide an advantage if a station is reliably accessible. The efficiency of the energy chain adds another issue. Germany’s Federal Environment Agency estimates that a fuel-cell passenger car using green hydrogen requires two to three times as much electricity per kilometre as a comparable battery-electric vehicle.
BMW therefore has to solve more than the manufacturing challenge. The iX5 Hydrogen needs use cases in which range, refuelling speed and flexibility can justify the higher energy demand.
What does Steyr reveal about flexible powertrain production?
There is still time for testing and industrialisation before the planned 2028 market launch. For production executives, the important figures may ultimately be less about conventional vehicle specifications and more about additional investment, validation effort, the share of common equipment and the volume at which the hydrogen variant becomes economically viable.
Steyr already provides a tangible example of that approach. A new production operation is being created on former V8 floor space, while existing process expertise is transferred to fuel-cell manufacturing. At the same time, the vehicle is being engineered so that a fifth powertrain does not require a fifth production world.
For an industry facing an uncertain future powertrain mix, the principle is pragmatic: spend less effort betting on which technology will prevail, and more on limiting the cost if that forecast turns out to be wrong.
