A TAXI cab that runs on the latest hydrogen fuel cell technology is being developed with the aim of being ready for full road trials in time for the 2012 Olympics.

The car looks and drives just like a standard London black cab — but underneath the bonnet is some cutting-edge technology by sports carmaker Lotus.

The fuel cell taxi can hit a top speed of 81mph, go from 0-60mph in 14 seconds and has a range of more than 250 miles on a full tank of hydrogen. Like electric vehicles, the new taxi does not produce any emissions from its tailpipe but, unlike battery-electric cars, it will only take a few minutes to fill up from empty.

The widespread introduction of hydrogen cars has long been a goal of some green campaigners, because eventually they allow transport fuel to be generated from renewable energy. Wind and solar plants could be used to drive the process of splitting water into hydrogen and oxygen — and the hydrogen piped to filling stations.

—The Guardian, London