Nissan, Renault to develop fuel-cell cars that run on gasoline

TOKYO -- Associated Press reports that Nissan Motor Co. and Renault SA of France have decided to develop cars with a fuel cell that runs on gasoline, following the lead of the world's largest automakers, a Japanese newspaper reported Monday.

Fuel-cell cars run on electricity produced by taking hydrogen from a liquid such as methanol or gasoline, and combining it with oxygen from air. They emit only water and heat as exhaust and have become the focal point of research in an industry seeking cleaner alternatives to the internal-combustion engine.

Nissan, which is owned 36.8 percent by Renault, has opted for the gasoline-powered fuel cell because of the likelihood that it will become the American standard, the national Yomiuri newspaper reported in a front page story.

Ritsuko Harimoto, a Nissan spokeswoman, could not immediately comment on the report.

In January, General Motors Corp. of the United States and Japan's Toyota Motor Corp. said they would join Exxon Mobil Corp., a major U.S. oil company, in an alliance to develop gasoline as the source of energy for fuel-cell cars.

The announcement by the world's largest and third-largest automakers led Nissan and Renault to come up with a similar model, the Yomiuri said, quoting unidentified company sources.

Nissan and Renault will spend 85 billion yen ($714 million) on the project and will market the fuel-cell vehicles as early as 2005, the newspaper said.

Regulators around the world are pressuring automakers to make cars that generate no pollution particles or gases. By 2003, California will require zero-emissions cars to make up 4 percent of annual sales in the state.