GM Enters Japan Fuel Cell Vehicle Race With Delivery Van

TOKYO July 9, 2003; Dow Jones reported that General Motors Corp. Tuesday joined the race with Japanese automakers to develop fuel cell-powered vehicles - in a delivery van.

GM's HydroGen3 van, operated by FedEx Corp., is the first fuel cell- powered commercial service vehicle to hit Japan's streets. FedEx will use the van to run a daily 100-kilometer circuit through Tokyo's financial and governmental districts during a one-year test run.

General Motors will share data collected during these runs with the Japanese government initiative developing the environmentally friendly technology.

"GM sees Japan as a key market," Raymond Grigg, the company's chief executive for Japan, told reporters before the van departed on its initial run. "It is the home of the development of fuel cell technology."

Aided by government subsidies that nearly double those available in the United States, Japanese automakers have taken the lead developing fuel cell vehicles, which run on the electricity produced when hydrogen combines with the oxygen present in the air.

Toyota and Honda have been leasing fuel cell passenger vehicles to government agencies and private companies in Japan since late last year. General Motors put the United States' first fuel cell cars on the road in May.