GM: Fuel cell cars 'to become cost competitive'

General Motors (GM) has said that hydrogen fuel cell cars should cost the same as petrol-fuelled cars once production volumes reach one million units per year. Speaking to reporters in Shanghai, Larry Burns, GM's vice president of research, development and strategic planning, said that the current high production costs of fuel cell-powered cars were down to the small numbers currently being produced, with one million units a year probably being sufficient to make the vehicles cost-competitive. "Lack of scale is the primary reason for the high cost of fuel cell vehicles," Mr Burns said, according to the Korea Herald, adding that the production of one million cars a year was not an unrealistic figure. "This would be just a ninth of the vehicles GM produces each year and a 66th of the total autos built worldwide," he said. GM is currently showcasing the Chevrolet Sequel, its fuel cell prototype car, in Shanghai.