In an effort to advance hydrogen transportation, California has joined H2USA, a public-private partnership led by the US Department of Energy.
H2USA aims to accelerate the commercialization of clean transportation solutions, primarily fuel cell electric vehicles and a fueling infrastructure that will make these vehicles more accessible and affordable.
The partnership — whose members include automakers Honda, GM, Toyota, Nissan and Hyundai and hydrogen fueling station manufacturer Linde North America as well as other gas suppliers and fuel cell industries across the nation — will identify actions designed to encourage early adopters of fuel cell vehicles, conduct coordinated technical and market analyses, and evaluate approaches to an alternative fueling infrastructure that drives cost reductions and economies of scale.
In March 2012, Gov. Jerry Brown issued an executive order directing state government to help accelerate the market for zero-emission vehicles (ZEVs) in California. The order set a goal of establishing an infrastructure to support one million ZEVs in California by 2020 and to have 1.5 million ZEVs on California roadways by 2025. Since then, seven other states, comprising more than 30 percent of the total national vehicle fleet, signed an agreement to work together to put 2.2 million ZEVs on the roads of their respective states by 2025.