The city of San Francisco will lease two Honda FCX vehicles for a period of one year with an option for a second year, adding to their fleet of more than 700 alternative fuel and advanced technology vehicles. San Francisco intends to create hydrogen-refueling infrastructure to support regular daily operation of the vehicles by city officials.

"San Francisco is demonstrating great environmental leadership and vision by leasing these two fuel cell vehicles. We are extremely pleased to have them as a customer for Honda fuel cell technology," said Gunnar Lindstrom, senior manager for Alternative Fuel Vehicles of American Honda Motor Co., Inc.

The Honda FCX is the world's first commercial fuel cell vehicle and is the only FCV certified to meet all of the applicable federal safety standards as well as the only fuel cell vehicle certified by the U.S. EPA and California Air Resources Board (CARB) for everyday commercial use.

CARB has also certified the FCX as a Zero Emission Vehicle (ZEV). In addition, it is also the only fuel cell vehicle to appear in the 2003 and 2004 EPA Fuel Economy Guide. The FCX has a range of up to 160 miles and seating for four people, making it practical for a wide range of real-world applications. In 2003, the city of Los Angeles celebrated its one-year anniversary as the first Honda fuel cell customer with five fuel cell vehicles in every day fleet use.

In addition to the current FCX, Honda has developed its own FC stack with the ability to start in sub-zero temperatures, a major breakthrough for fuel cell technology. Recently, a successful cold-weather demonstration was conducted demonstrating the vehicle's cold-weather performance capabilities and its ability to start in below freezing temperatures, a major hurdle in the drive to create a truly mass-marketable fuel cell vehicle. Honda will continue cold weather testing in Japan and the northeastern United States in its efforts to make widespread use of fuel cell vehicles a reality.

Honda undertook fuel cell research in 1989 and has been road testing vehicles in the United States since 1999. Honda has also been a member of the California Fuel Cell Partnership based in Sacramento, Calif., since 1999.