In fact, Toyota is likely to show a real FC car at Frankfurt which is planned for sale in 2015.
And, while prototypes by a number of manufacturers already in evaluation may have cost as much as $1m apiece, it's conceivable that the first consumer versions will get as low as $50,000. This follows strong success in bringing down the costs of FC systems and components.
They may also be more environmentally friendly than electric cars, which also don't have emissions but do involve CO2 production in power generation. Producing hydrogen for FC vehicles also involves energy and CO2 emissions, but the overall impact can be argued as less.
Issues about storage of hydrogen onboard and the allied costs have largely been dealt with. The big problem to be solved is availability of hydrogen in the fuel infrastructure, but other gas fuels are available in many markets as an adjunct to the petrol system and there aren't major reasons why hydrogen can't be distributed in a similar way.
Ford, Daimler and Nissan have also committed to producing FC cars.
