On June 6, Toyota, said it had developed a fuel-cell vehicle capable of advanced performance including 516 miles on one tank of hydrogen and the ability to operate in temperatures under -22 degrees F.

The vehicle, the FCHV-adv is an improvement on the FCHV, which had a range of 205 miles per tank and a maximum speed of 97 mph. The new model has 25% better fuel efficiency, a bigger fuel tank, and improved braking.

Although currently a lack of infrastructure to support fuel cell vehicles, which are also expensive to develop, is a major hurdle to the widespread adoption of the zero-emission vehicles, both Toyota and Honda have been working on the technology since 2002 with the end goal of mass commercialization of the product.

Honda's current offering, the FCX Clarity, has a single-tank range of 385 miles and a top speed of 99 mph. It employs lithium-ion battery technology and a working temperature range of -22 to 203 degrees F.

In the next phase of its evolution, the Toyota FCHV-adv will be leased to Japanese government agencies later this year, but there is no clear time frame for the car to be available elsewhere. In 2009 competitor Honda will start leasing the FXC Clarity here in the United States.