GM Tests Fuel Cells In Tokyo Deliveries

General Motors Corp. (GM) is continuing field research of fuel cells in an attempt to be a major supplier of the alternative power source in the future. The company's latest foray is a partnership with FedEx in which FedEx will use GM's HydroGen 3 vehicle to make deliveries in Tokyo for one year. GM will collect data from FedEx on a daily basis and will provide all vehicle engineering and maintenance. The vehicle will be operated in the Marunouchi and Kasumigaseki districts in downtown Tokyo. "This is another key step toward true commercialization -- when we can sell large numbers of fuel cell vehicles to consumers at prices they can afford and that also make sound financial sense for GM," says Larry Burns, GM vice president of research and development, and planning. "It's really important to get fuel cell vehicles on the road in competitive business environments like the ones FedEx works in on the streets of Tokyo. They run a very successful global operation that demands reliability and durability." GM recently announced a partnership with Shell Oil to provide hydrogen refueling for a fleet of GM HydroGen3s in Washington, D.C. And in May, GM and Dow Chemical Co. came to agreement on the world's largest-ever fuel cell power deal in which GM fuel cells will power several Dow manufacturing plants. GM has approximately 600 people working on fuel cell technology at its three U.S. facilities in Honeoye Falls, N.Y., Warren, Mich., and Torrance Calif., as well as at its research facility in Mainz-Kastel, Germany, and offices in Tokyo.