The number of hydrogen fuel cell initiatives is growing in tandem with the rising global hype over alternative energy vehicles.

On June 16, a two seater hydrogen powered car weighing 350 kg was unveiled in London. Made by the upstart British company Riversimple, it offers a top speed of 50 mph and fuel consumption of 350 miles per gallon of hydrogen. With zero emissions, the car is being promoted as a car for use in cities.

The hydrogen fuel cell in the vehicle is being supplied by Horizon Fuel Cell Technologies of Shanghai.

In an interview with Automotive News China, Horizon Fuel Cell's CEO George Gu says he sees hybrid cars running on a combination of hydrogen fuel cells and electric batteries as the way forward.

Batteries on their own have limitations due to their weight, says Gu. A vehicle with a heavy battery needs more power to power itself. But by dividing the power a car draws on to cruise and accelerate between a hydrogen fuel cell and a battery, the car can run as a regular car, he adds.

"The fuel cell can provide the car's cruise power with a capacitor and battery providing peak power acceleration," says Gu. "And the battery can also be regenerated during braking."

But leading industry analyst Duan Chengwu of Global Insight is sceptical, "Considering hurdles in various areas, I believe this type of vehicle will be only good for showcase purposes or at most for very limited applications such as the world expo or on university campuses," he says.

Headquartered in Singapore, Horizon makes around 100,000 fuel cells annually and supplies various fuel cell vehicle developers including universities in China. It employs 120 staff with a manufacturing as well as r&d base in Shanghai.

China's government is pushing the development of hydrogen fuel cell vehicles. Shanghai Shen-Li High Tech Co., a developer of fuel cell technology, is working with the government on fuel cell vehicle programs for regular sized passenger cars.

Fuel cell engine covers fuel cell power system and electrical motor.

The amount of time needed to re-charge is determined by the pressure and dimension of the hydrogen tank installed on passenger cars, says Sun. If the pressure is higher, the time to recharge is longer or if the dimension is larger, the time is longer, but generally, it is 5-10 minutes, says Sun.

Shen Li fuel cell powered passenger cars will debut at the Shanghai World Expo next year.

Currently, there are two hydrogen refilling stations in Beijing and only one hydrogen station in Shanghai, says Sun.

But, Shanghai is going to build another four stations. "By 2010, Shanghai will have 5 stations for fuel cell vehicle demonstration at the 2010 Shanghai World Expo," she says.

Volkswagen AG and partner Shanghai Automotive Industry Corp. have been leading the trend to develop hydrogen fuel cell vehicle technology in China.

"VW actively conducts FCV R&D, not only in Germany, but also in China," says Nikolas Thorke, spokesperson for VW in China. "With cooperation with Shanghai VW and Tongji University, VW developed a fuel cell car based on the SVW Passat Lingyu passenger car."

In 2008, a fleet of 20 Passat Lingyu Fuel Cell cars provided green transportation service to the Beijing Olympics.

Besides the Passat Lingyu FCV, VW has developed several other FCV models in Germany such as the Bora HyMotion, Touran HyMotion and Tiguan HyMotion. These have been brought to China to attend several technical exchange events, says Thorke.

However Volkswagen says there are no immediate plans for commercial production of these cars yet. "The FCV is still under further development, no definite production plan has been decided for near future,"he says.