German-American automaker DaimlerChrysler AG announced yesterday that it intends to invest about $1 billion in fuel-cell technology and become the first major auto manufacturer to market fuel-cell vehicles. By 2002, the company plans to produce buses equipped with fuel cells, and by 2004 it will sell fuel-cell cars. Meanwhile, Japanese scientists report in the new issue of the journal Science that they have developed a prototype fuel cell that can operate at much lower temperatures than most fuel cells, an advance that may make fuel-cell technology more viable.
