A number of leading vehicle manufacturers have joined up with hydrogen fuel suppliers and energy consultancies in order to develop and demonstrate both technology and infrastructure linked to improving the viability of fuel cell vehicles. The new agreement, which was co-ordinated by the Office of the Mayor of London, has been joined by Hyundai, Honda, BMW, Toyota and Daimler _ the parent company for Mercedes-Benz.æ Between them, the companies plan to deploy a total of 110 hydrogen fuel cell vehicles at a number of different European locations.æ As a result, it's hoped that new clusters of hydrogen refuelling stations will appear in the future. Fuel cell technology combines hydrogen gas with oxygen from the atmosphere in order to generate electric power without the need for any tailpipe emissions (known to be one of the most harmful ways in which the motoring sector affects the environment). æThe technology has the potential to be more than twice as fuel-efficient as traditionally power vehicles.æ As well as this, they should be able to operate far more quietly. There are other benefits to the new technology.æ It allows for rapid re-fuelling times, and there is the potential for the car to travel more than 400 miles before it needs to be re-fuelled. One criticism of almost any motor technology is the initial expense during the technology's early days.æ However, as the infrastructure improves and the cost of the technology decreases overall, it is looking like fuel cell technology will soon be far more widely available. Honda in particular has already thrown its hat in with the fuel cell technology, having already begun to lease cars with the technology to their customers in California.æ Hyundai have also begun to explore the market in more depth, having started a limited production run of the ix35 fuel cell vehicle in 2013. Full production for the car is expected to begin in 2015.