Honda has announced the lease of two Honda FCX fuel cell vehicles to the city of Las Vegas.

Las Vegas is to rent out the vehicles for a period of two years at a cost of $500 per vehicle per month.

The vehicles will operate on a daily basis, and will be refuelled at a city-owned hydrogen station.

"With being the first city in Nevada to test these vehicles and building the world's first hydrogen energy station in 2002, we are at the forefront in pursuing innovative technology that will help keep our environment clean," said the mayor of Las Vegas.

The two Honda vehicles will be the first fuel cell cars in Nevada, bringing Honda's overall total of operating fuel cell vehicles in the US to 14.

Two of the cars are currently being rented by San Francisco, along with five by LA, two by the South Coast Air Quality Management District, one by the city of Chula Vista and two by New York State.

The Honda FCX is the world's first and only fuel cell vehicle to be certified by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and California Air Resources Board (CARB) as a Zero Emission Vehicle (ZEV).

Honda began its 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 since 1999.