Automotive company Honda is planning extensive road tests for a new improved fuel cell powered vehicle.

The FCX Honda will use a next-generation fuel cell generator and will be able to run at extreme temperatures of minus 20°C.

The project is being run by a corporate-academic consortium led by the laboratory of Honda, Kagoshima University and Yakushima Denko.

The tests involve the car being used on public roads on the Japanese island of Yakishima as part of the consortium's zero-emission project.

Hydrogen is manufactured through water electrolysis by using electricity generated at a power plant on the island. The gas produced is stored at a hydrogen fuelling station and supplied by Yakushima Denko, an affiliate of Taiheiyo Cement, which has been operating the station since March.

The advantage of fuel cell cars is that they produce little pollution and the only by-product produced is water but high production costs and a lack of infrastructure for pumping hydrogen are still seen as problems.

The fuel cell used in the Honda vehicle will produce electricity by combining hydrogen and oxygen over a platinum catalyst.