Jon and Sandy Spallino will pay $500 a month for the two-year lease. Compressed hydrogen for use in a fuel cell vehicle costs about the same per energy content as premium gasoline.

The 2005 FCX can travel 190 miles (300km) on a tank of hydrogen and its mileage is rated as high as 62 miles (99.77km) per gallon.

The family of four will use the vehicle for everyday activities and provide feedback to Honda on the vehicle’s performance.

Honda's FCX is the only zero-emission fuel cell vehicle certified by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and California regulators for regular daily use.

Part of the reason the reason the Spallinos were chosen for the lease was that they already own a natural gas-powered Honda Civic GX. As well as living in the greater Los Angles metropolitan area, a region which has one of the greatest concentrations of hydrogen fueling stations in the country.

“This is a critical step for the auto industry ... the need for a hydrogen refueling structure remains a key challenge,” said John Mendel, senior vice president, automotive operations, for American Honda.

The centerpiece of Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger’s environmental effort is to develop the California Hydrogen Highway. This is a system of fueling stations that will build 100 hydrogen fueling stations by 2010. Although a recent legislative session in California will only provide half of requested amount.

In addition to Honda, Toyota and GM plan to release fuel cell vehicle for public use. The current state of hydrogen fuel stations in the country is an issue of concern for auto manufacturers.

“We are looking at doing several more leases, but it has to be convenient for people to have somewhere to fill up,” said Andy Boyd, a spokesman for Honda.