The Ultimate Low-Emission Driving Machine

BMW has just announced that it intends to be the first car company to bring a hydrogen-burning vehicle to market.  The race is on, with GM parading its hydrogen prototype on CBS on Tuesday, and Toyota and Honda fighting over who loves trees more.  Still, one has to wonder when the environmentally friendly car will trickle down from luxury status and low emissions can be had by all.

Reuters (via Yahoo):

A spokesman said the car would be leased to selected customers rather than sold because of its high price. Leasing rates would be similar to those for a top-end BMW 760LI with a full-service package.

The BMW 7 Series Hydrogen 7 Saloon is powered by a 260 hp twelve-cylinder engine and accelerates from 0-100 km/h (62 mph) in 9.5 seconds. Top speed is limited electronically to 230 km/h.

BMW has said it intends to build a few hundred such cars at first. They will be able to switch between burning standard petrol and hydrogen so that drivers will not be left stranded while the infrastructure to deliver hydrogen is built up.

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