Nissan has announced that it is working on a fuel cell vehicle ( FCV ) available for purchase by 2020 that , in an " industry first , " will run on ethanol , using sugar cane and corn crops to generate electricity . The company claims its method is cheaper , requires no bulky storage , and will need less infrastructure to run . According to Nissan , the ethanol - based fuel could be used in bigger vehicles , and aims to have a range of 800 km per fuelling ; while running costs would be " similar " to electric vehicles , no price details have been given . Nissan 's rivals , Honda and Toyota , also have fuel cell technology already in development , as part of Japan 's drive toward a " hydrogen society . "
Nissan has announced that it is working on a fuel cell vehicle (FCV) available for purchase by 2020 that, in an "industry first," will run on ethanol, using sugar cane and corn crops to generate hydrogen. The company claims its method is cheaper, requires no bulky storage, and will need less infrastructure to run. According to Nissan, the ethanol-based FCV could be used in bigger vehicles, and aims to have a range of 800km per fuelling; while running costs would be "similar" to electric vehicles, no price details have been given. Nissan's rivals, Honda and Toyota, also have fuel cell technology projects in development, as part of Japan's drive toward a "hydrogen society."