• Los Angeles Times, Monday, June 16, 2008 10:17 AM

Fancy cars have long been integral to the one-upmanship among L.A.'s glitterati. But instead of Bentleys and Bugattis, Hollywood's must-have vehicles of the moment are green. And nothing conveys extreme exclusivity and earth-friendliness like a hydrogen car.

Writer and director Paul Haggis owns four Toyota Priuses, but when he heard about the not-yet-available Honda FCX Clarity -- a hydrogen-powered car that gets 270 miles on a tank and emits nothing but water -- he was desperate to drive it. A step ahead of Haggis was Joely Fisher, star of Fox's "'Til Death" TV show. She arranged for BMW to lend her a sleek metallic blue Hydrogen 7 Series -- one of just 20 such experimental sedans in the country.

The fad is a boon for carmakers, which are leveraging the enthusiasm of the stars and their attendant paparazzi to boost their image as environmentally friendly companies. The cars aren't for sale -- and won't be for years -- but automakers are using celebrities to promote the technology and build support for the infrastructure needed to make hydrogen cars commercially viable.

Read the whole story at Los Angeles Times »