Mazda to Show Its RX-8 Hydrogen RE at the Norwegian ONS2006 Exhibition

Tokyo, Aug 1, 2006 (JCN) - Mazda will show its RX-8 Hydrogen RE at the ONS2006, an energy exhibition and conference to be held in Stavanger, Norway, from August 22. Mazda took a big step towards hydrogen fuel sustainability earlier this year, when it began leasing the dual-fuel, hydrogen and petrol powered rotary-engine vehicle to companies in Japan.

Mazda will utilize the opening of Norway's first hydrogen filling station near Stavanger for the first on-road showing of the vehicle outside Japan. The filling station is the first of several hydrogen filling stations planned by the national HyNor Project that has been established to promote hydrogen as an alternative fuel in Norway.

More than 30 Norwegian partners with representatives from the public authorities, industry and commerce and the academic community are working together to build up the first infrastructure for hydrogen fuel in Norway. Their initial goal is to make it possible to drive a hydrogen-powered vehicle like the Mazda RX-8 Hydrogen RE between the cities of Stavanger and Oslo. The next filling station along this route will be opened in Grenland in spring 2007.