General Motors announced that it has extended its agreement with the United States Postal Service to test fuel cell vehicles for mail delivery. Along with the announcement, GM unveiled its new HydroGen3 fuel cell minivan, which will be added to the U.S. Postal Service's Irvine, California fleet.

The USPS became GM's first commercial customer for fuel cell vehicles in the United States; it agreed to use GM fuel-cell cars in June of 2004. The USPS has been testing a HydroGen3 in the Washington, D.C. area, making routine mail deliveries three days a week. Based on the success of HydroGen3 in DC, GM and USPS decided to extend the test another year, as well as add a second fuel cell van in Irvine.

The Hydrogen3 runs on a 700-bar compressed hydrogen tank. It will be serviced and maintained under the guidance of GM's fuel cell engineers in Torrance, CA. The engineers will also train local mail carriers that will operate the vehicle.

Earlier this month GM announced "Project Driveway", a comprehensive deployment plan to put the worlds largest hydrogen fuel cell fleet of cars in consumer hands by fall of 2007.

To read more about Project Driveway, click here.