BMW taps into Germany’s Hydrogen grid future

The BMW Group has finally had enough of trucking Hydrogen around like an explosive milkman, and instead is looking at using a direct supply to power the production of their cars.

Dan Boland

2nd Oct 2025

2–3 minutes

The BMW Group has finally had enough of trucking Hydrogen around like an explosive milkman, and instead is looking at using a direct supply to power the production of their cars.

In fact, Plant Leipzig will be the very first car factory in the world to have a direct pipeline supply of Hydrogen. In a press release from the BMW Group, they reported (in a squeaky voice) that the contracts are already signed with MITNETZ GAS GmbH and ONTRAS Gastransport GmbH.

MITNETZ GAS is building a two-kilometre pipe that’ll hook up Leipzig to Germany’s upcoming core Hydrogen network. BMW and ONTRAS are still figuring out the best connection point, but the pipeline is expected to start delivering Hydrogen as soon as 2027.

The core Hydrogen project, which the Leipzig Plant will be connected to, isn’t small either. It’s planned to be a 9,000km system of Hydrogen pipes, with full operation expected to be achieved in 2032, introducing Germany to the transregional Hydrogen network. Leipzig will therefore be able to bin off their truckloads of Hydrogen cylinders, and instead just tap into the grid, just like a factory with very exotic central heating.

Petra Peterhänsel, the director at Leipzig, said: “With supplies coming in via the pipeline, we’ll be able to use Hydrogen in completely new ways, especially for our curing ovens in the paintshop.” That’s a big deal, because back in 2022 Leipzig kitted out its paintshops with fuel-flexible burners, machines that can happily run on gas or Hydrogen. They’ve now even got eleven of them humming away.

And as most chefs would claim, it doesn’t stop at ovens. Since 2013, Leipzig’s been running Europe’s largest Hydrogen-powered fleet of forklifts and tug trains, over 230 vehicles in total. The new supply will therefore supercharge that effort, pushing Hydrogen deeper into the nuts and bolts of every BMW car produced.

In stereotypical German fashion, the timing is very precise, too. Following 2027, when Leipzig’s Hydrogen is flowing, BMW’s iX5 Hydrogen SUV will nearly be ready to launch, meaning they’ll not only build Hydrogen cars, but build them with Hydrogen. BMW, working with Toyota, plans to launch the iX5 in 2028, using next-gen fuel cell technology, already tested in the pilot iX5 fleet.

BMW isn’t just getting a pipeline; they’re laying the groundwork to make Hydrogen cars at the proper scale. They’re ahead of the curve, ahead of other manufacturers. And at the launch party for the iX5, blowing up the balloons is going to be very easy.

“Motor Hydrogen 7” by Claus Ableiter is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.