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If Panasonic isn't involved, that will make the factory much more of a challenge,

Battery models carry electricity in their lithium-ion battery packs while fuel cell vehicles make electricity on board in a chemical reaction between hydrogen and oxygen, with only water vapor as a byproduct. While hydrogen vehicles have a range comparable to gasoline vehicles and need only a few minutes to refuel -- compared with hours for most battery autos -- there are few hydrogen pumps currently open to the public.

California has said it will provide as much as $200 million over the next decade to help open stations across the most populous U.S. state.

Fuel cell autos will need three to five years to build a market presence in California, and at least a decade to get to U.S. sales of half a million or more annually, Lentz said. Still, advances in the technology and an industrywide push, with Daimler AG, General Motors Co. and Nissan also planning to sell fuel cell models, may help the vehicles get a market foothold faster than hybrids, according to Lentz.

Bollore’s Bluecars, used in the Autolib car-share program in Paris, can travel about 150 miles per charge

Batteries made by Bollore’s Blue Solutions in France’s Brittany province are cheaper than lithium ion cells used in other electric cars, holding down the cost of his small vehicles

Along with expanding to other U.S. regions such as California, Bollore said he wants to offer his car-share service and electric vehicles to China and other markets.