BMW must think that people who spend their days planning how to leave this earth are the right target for the Hydrogen 7 hype. Last fall, a fleet of the dual-fuel cars spent two months at NASA; this month the Atlantis Space Shuttle crew chilling in Munich (visiting the BMW Group as part of a tour of Germany) got a chance to test out the luxury vehicle. It worked, as Space Shuttle Commander Stephen Frick is now a fan. In a statement (available after the jump) he said, "It's impressive to see hydrogen functioning so smoothly in cars as well. What I find most striking is that a car running on hydrogen performs just as well as a petrol-driven model." It's always good to remember at times like this that the H7 can run on hydrogen or petrol, and there's nothing in BMW's media release that says the car was running on H2 when Frick was on board.

Photo credit: Vince Bucci/Getty Images. Click to enlarge.

Last night, for a special screening of the movie version of "Sex and the City," star Kristen Davis got a ride in the dual-fuel BMW Hydrogen 7. Davis rode the car to the Arclight Cinema in Hollywood, California. While I'm sure the drama was kept on-screen, let's not forget that co-star Kim Cattrall is really more into the Mercedes GLK Freeside, as she proved with her appearance at the Detroit Auto Show in January. In fact, the GLK Freeside is featured in the movie, if preview materials are to be believed. In any case, the movie opens nationwide today. That hydrogen-powered car? Not quite as available.


[Source: Rubenstein Communications, Inc.]

Pretty soon, we're going to have to list the people who aren't driving a BMW Hydrogen 7. BMW is offering the car to celebrities, average citizens and politicians the world over. Some of us get to drive it around the block, others get to keep it for a week or two. The latest to be handed the keys is EU Parliamentary president Hans-Gert Pöttering (pictured), who stepped into the car yesterday in Strasburg. BMW says (after the jump) that this move was "In line with the European Parliament's efforts to take measures to reduce its own CO₂ emissions." Pöttering will use the car for work-related trips. For his part, Dr. Norbert Reithofer, Chairman of the Board of BMW AG, said the Hydrogen 7 "shows that we have initial solutions and are on the right track" and that for "regeneratively produced hydrogen has the most potential to secure our mobility in the future." Potential, always with the potential.

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A lot of green cars have made their way to the EVER MONACO exhibit: the Th!nk City, the Citroën Berlingo Venturi, the Venturi Astrolab and the Citroën C5 Airdream. You don't think BMW would let a chance like this slip by without trotting out the Hydrogen 7, do you?

They didn't. BMW handed over the keys to a dual-fuel-powered 7 series to Monaco's Prince Albert II (left in the picture above) yesterday, calling the vehicle's use part of the Principality's "Sustainable Environmental Protection" program. The prince said in a statement (pasted after the jump) that he looked forward to "discovering the advantages of the BMW Hydrogen 7 with interest over the coming weeks," and said he was keen on technologies that reduce people's environmental impact. Hopefully, he'll let everyone know just what those advantages are. Does Monaco even have a hydrogen filling station? Green Car Advisor says no, and that the car comes with its own tanker for the prince to use.

Let's see: Cameron Diaz, Brad Pitt, Jay Leno, Jeremy Piven, Will Ferrell, Placido Domingo. Oh, and Terry Tamminen. These are just some of the celebrities that BMW has convinced of the goodness of the dual fuel (gasoline and hydrogen) BMW Hydrogen 7. The next movie star to take the wheel of one of these luxury vehicles is Ed Norton - who is both an advocate for solar energy and was awesome in Fight Club. The celebs are taking part in BMW's "Hydrogen 7 Pioneer Program," a PR campaign that "gives industry leaders and prominent figures in entertainment, politics, business and more a BMW Hydrogen 7 for their daily use." The peons - that is, us - can only drive a Hydrogen 7 in rare instances, like around the block at special events. Still, the H7 is a production model, albeit one that is available only in limited quantities. Press release pasted after the jump.