ROCHESTER - Two driveable versions of a hydrogen fuel cell-powered vehicle that General Motors is aiming to market as early as 2010 took a 300-mile spin across New York state Tuesday.

Auto journalists climbed aboard the Sequel SUVs at GM's fuel-cell development center in Honeoye Falls in rural upstate New York for a seven-hour journey to suburban New York City. The Sequel is the first fuel cell vehicle capable of driving 300 miles between fill-ups.

“The goal of GM has been to have the vehicles ready to start the production process by 2010 and I think we're right on track to do that,” said Daniel O'Connell, director of field service, support and infrastructure at the Honeoye Falls plant.

“Over the years, one of the problems with fuel cells has been achieving the range we're accustomed to today of 300 miles,” O'Connell said. “Most (prototype) vehicles out there range about 100 to 150 miles.”

Helped by improvements in fuel-cell efficiency and hydrogen storage, “the Sequel has been operational and running for probably six months and fine-tuned to the point where it's ready to turn over and have somebody else drive up and down hills, stop and start in traffic - not just on a test track.”

Among the big hurdles ahead will be “to get the cost down on par with today's internal combustion engines and get the durability up,” O'Connell said. “The last one is to get the infrastructure across the entire United States so you could drive coast to coast.”

Roughly the size of the Cadillac SRX, the Sequel can accelerate to 60 mph in 10 seconds. Instead of gasoline, the fuel cells run on energy produced when hydrogen and oxygen are mixed, and the only byproduct is water vapor.

Since 2003, President Bush has pushed a five-year, $1.7 billion research program to develop hydrogen as an energy source. Most major automakers are developing hydrogen-powered vehicles, but cost and a lack of fueling stations make the vehicles unmarketable for now.