"The hydrogen station in Stavanger is the first step of a long and exciting journey for hydrogen, and we are very proud to have Mazda present at the opening," said Mr. Brage W. Johansen, Manager of Hydrogen Group, Statoil ASA and member of the HyNor National Board. "Hydrogen has always suffered from the classic chicken-and-egg debate: the car manufacturers wait for a fuel distribution network to be set up, and the fuel suppliers wait for cars to be produced. In the end we decided to take a risk and build the first station and as you can see, the first cars have already arrived."

The filling station is the first of several hydrogen filling stations planned by the national HyNor Project that has been established to promote hydrogen as an alternative fuel in Norway. More than 30 Norwegian partners with representatives from the public authorities, industry and commerce and the academic community are working together to build up the first infrastructure for hydrogen fuel in Norway. Their initial goal is to make it possible to drive a hydrogen-powered vehicle like the Mazda RX-8 Hydrogen RE between the cities of Stavanger and Oslo. The next filling station along this route will be opened in Grenland in spring 2007.

"Mazda means business when it comes to developing alternative fuel vehicles," said James Muir, President and CEO of Mazda Motor Europe. "Proof of this, is that we will be driving into a new Norwegian hydrogen filling station in a car that is not a prototype, but a model that Mazda has begun to lease to regional governmental authorities and companies in Japan. It uses both petrol and hydrogen at the flick of a switch. It's safe and it's fun to drive. With several countries in Europe beginning to invest in hydrogen infrastructures, Mazda's RX-8 Hydrogen RE represents an important step towards eventual mass production."

History of Mazda's Hydrogen Vehicle Development
1991  Developed the first hydrogen rotary engine vehicle, HR-X
1992  Test drive of golf cart equipped with fuel cell
1993  Developed second hydrogen rotary engine vehicle, HR-X2
Developed test version of MX-5 equipped with hydrogen rotary engine
1995  Conducted Japan's first public road test with Capella Cargo equipped with hydrogen rotary engine
1997  Developed Demio (Mazda2) FC-EV
2001  Developed Premacy FC-EV and conducted first public road test in Japan (with methanol reformer fuel cell system)
2003  Announced Mazda RX-8 Hydrogen Rotary Engine vehicle development model
2004  Conducted the world's first public road tests of the RX-8 hydrogen rotary engine that can run on two types of fuel--hydrogen and gasoline
March, 2006  Mazda Motor Corporation delivers one RX-8 Hydrogen RE vehicle each to its first two corporate customers. Several more are planned this year