Fuel cell cars have for some time now been the car of the future.
It's because the cars are always somewhere in the future and never in the present.
Japan Steel Works and Tohoku University and Japan Steel works may have something that will bring the future a bit closer.
The two have developed a matchbox-sized storage tank that is just 4cm x 6cm (1.6" x 2.2") and can hold 9 liters of hydrogen.
The amount of hydrogen the tank can hold is 43% more than a comparably sized chunk of lanthanum nickel alloy = the current best way to store hydrogen.
Japan Steel Works wants to have a practical version within three years.
The two are also working on a tank to supply the hydrogen for a fuel cell car.
The car version will be able to store 3.6x more hydrogen and a 90-liter tank will fuel a car for 650km (400 miles).
The tank will weigh less than half, 100kg, (220lb) of the current 220kg (484lb) version.
It seems the fuel cell car has taken a giant matchbox-sized step closer to reality.
And a university in Japan helped.
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