Toyota, GM Continue Fuel-Cell Discussions

General Motors Corp. and Toyota Motor Corp. are still conducting technical discussions on fuel cells and are negotiating whether to extend the research, Toyota President Katsuaki Watanabe said.

The companies never had a plan to form a joint venture for fuel cells or vehicles powered by fuel cells, Executive Vice President Masatami Takimoto said.

Automakers are working to create vehicles that rely less on gasoline as energy prices rise and governments pass stricter laws controlling emissions. For fuel cells to be practical, companies have to figure out how to store enough hydrogen aboard vehicles and how to produce hydrogen at a reasonable cost and without creating significant amounts of carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas, Takimoto said.