gavriil

TOKYO (Reuters) -- General Motors and FedEx Corp. marked a first in Japan on Wednesday by delivering packages in a fuel cell vehicle -- the first approved for commercial use in the country.

As part of the Japanese government's initiative to explore the viability of fuel cell vehicles, GM and the delivery company will operate GM's HydroGen3 vehicles on FedEx's regular routes in Tokyo.

Toyota Motor Corp. and Honda Motor Co. became the first to put the no-emission vehicles on the road last year, but their fuel cell vehicles have only been leased out to ministries and other public agencies due to the steep price.

The first commercial use of a fuel cell vehicle, which runs on hydrogen and only emits water as a byproduct, has huge implications for the future, GM and FedEx said.

"In addition to giving General Motors lots of data from how fuel cell technology handles in real- world situations, it's also another step toward true commercialization -- when fuel cell vehicles can be sold to consumers at prices they can afford and auto companies make a profit from them," GM said.

The two U.S. companies have no similar alliance elsewhere in the world.

By storing liquid hydrogen onboard the vehicle, HydroGen3 can run for 250 miles before refueling, GM said. That is about 62 miles more than fuel cell vehicles developed by Toyota and Honda. The Japanese government wants to lay the groundwork for full commercialization of fuel cell vehicles by 2005, with the aim of having 5 million of the vehicles on the road by 2020.

Automakers, however, have said commercialization could take longer due to high development costs and lack of infrastructure, such as hydrogen fueling stations.

ItalianStallion

think the fed goverment should put up some cash for making hydrogen fuel stations in a few cities on the east and west coast? maybe support the effort until large corporations take over and expand themselves. this could be an amazing thing.