General Motors said Tuesday it has purchased a 20 percent stake in Quantum Technologies, a California company specializing in producing components for fuel-cell cars.

The alliance is expected to shorten the time to mass market commercialisation of vehicles using the environmentally-friendly technology being developed by Quantum.

Larry Burns, GM's vice president of research, development and planning, described the move as "the next step on the long road to a hydrogen-based economy."

GM wants to be "the first company to put one million fuel cell vehicles on the road," said Quantum chief executive Syed Hussain.

The company, which has been working with GM for eight years, is developing hydrogen-storage tanks for vehicles.

GM said it is aiming to produce fuel-cell vehicles commercially by 2010, but the date depends on how fast the technology can be refined and pricing issues.

Fuel cells are widely considered the most promising long-term replacement for gasoline-fueled internal combustion engines that power most of today's cars and trucks.

In addition to being less polluting, the engines are extremely efficient in converting gasoline or hydrogen into electric power to drive the vehicle.

Although fuel cells are still in their infancy, virtually every automaker is working on the engines, experimental versions of which achieve about 200 miles to the gallon on average.

（Agencies)