The prototype designed by John Deere was unveiled Friday at UND's Energy and Environmental Research Center, which is working on a project that could make fueling easier and bring down costs of hydrogen powered vehicles.

"We believe it is the most advanced off-road fuel cell vehicle in the world," said Bruce Wood, spokesman for John Deere. "What you're seeing is not science fiction, it's science fact."

The "zero emissions" vehicle, powered by electricity from hydrogen fuel cells, has four-wheel drive, four-wheel steering and a portable power generator with enough juice to power up four or five homes.

"So if you had one of these and your neighbors lost their power, they would be real happy to see you show up," Wood said.

The vehicle also has the capability of zipping from 0 to 60 mph in about 8 seconds, Wood said.

"That's the feature of the hybrid," Wood said. "You can throw the entire output of the fuel cell and the batteries into the drive train and it will accelerate like a rabbit."

The Energy and Environmental Research Center, or EERC, could play a part in how quickly the vehicle is ready for commercial use, Wood said. The EERC is working on a "hydrogen fueling on demand" system that would eliminate costly pipelines and storage.

"We don't want to be in the position of having a vehicle out there if we can't assure people that they can get it fueled," Wood said.

The technology does not require compression and storage, said Tom Erickson, EERC associate director.

"Our system produces that hydrogen from a variety of fuels and then separates it out so you only get very pure hydrogen that you can directly dispense into a tank," Erickson said. "So when a vehicle pulls up we produce the hydrogen right then and pump it into the tank."

Wood said the vehicle has features that would be ideal for military use, particularly for towing, braking and even starting airplanes. The company hopes to use the Grand Forks Air Force Base as a test site.

Asked about the cost of the prototype, Wood said, "A lot."

It's likely that hydrogen-powered work vehicles will be in production long before cars, Wood said.

"I think it's a mistake that our government has focused so much on getting fuel cells in cars and trucks on the highway," Wood said. "It's a little akin to getting up to the baseball plate and swinging for a home run and never trying to get the singles and bunts to get you going."

Hydrogen vehicles are not only better for the environment, but would reduce the country's dependence on foreign oil, said Gerald Groenewald, EERC director.

"In the '70s we were worried because we were importing 30 percent of our oil," Groenewald said. "Now it's at 60 percent and moving toward 70 percent. I don't think we can stop that train.

"This is innovation that can give this country a whole new way of looking at energy security and looking at indigenous resources," he said.