Virtually all car manufacturers intend to reduce the usage of fossil fuels like gasoline and diesel as energy sources for automotive applications, especially by a continuously increasing electrification of the powertrain. Unfortunately, the current and future automotive battery energy density provides limitations for the development of pure battery electrical vehicles as soon as reliable vehicle ranges significantly greater than 150 km are required. Therefore, GM and Opel pursue the concept of the extended-range electric vehicle (E-REV) and the fuel cell electric vehicle (FCEV). Extended-range (E-REV) and battery-electric vehicles (BEVs) both provide opportunities for load leveling through smart charging. This makes them a complementary technology to solar and wind power generation. In the longer term, however, load leveling and large-scale energy storage as chemical energy in the form of hydrogen offers a by far greater potential. At the same time, when used for propulsion, hydrogen enables the usage of an electrical drivetrain in combination with the high energy density of a chemical energy carrier. Today, fuel cell electric propulsion systems are applicable to all vehicle classes, but their continuous power and their hydrogen storage requirements have to be balanced against the vehicle package and the requirements of the thermal system (e.g. radiator size). Nevertheless, nearly all automotive companies agree that the FCEV is the only advanced propulsion option that provides long-range zero-emission driving combined with reasonably short refueling times of 3 to 5 minutes. The major technological challenges on the vehicle side have been overcome since the publication of the 2007 review on the status of fuel cell vehicles. GM's "Project Driveway" and the "Technology-Demonstration-Fleet" proved that automotive fuel cell technology has reached a technology maturity, durability, and cost level which allows it to enter the early commercialization phase as defined in ref. 1. 70 MPa compressed gaseous hydrogen is the storage technology of choice and promoted by virtually all manufacturers of fuel cell vehicles. Only the necessary build-up of a fuel infrastructure still remains a significant challenge in all relevant automotive markets. Establishing a fueling network for fuel cell electric vehicles requires a joint approach by all the major stakeholders (inter alia, auto industry, energy companies and governments) and this process has to be accomplished in parallel to the vehicle rollout during the early commercialization phase (2015-2020 time frame). On the other hand, large infrastructure and energy supply investment are required for all future fuel options, including maintaining a "business-as-usual" approach based on gasoline and diesel fuel. The initial set-up of a hydrogen infrastructure for Germany would consist of about 200 stations and could be accomplished by a significant but definitely manageable investment of 200 to 300 million Euros over several years. Complete area coverage of a country like Germany could be reached with about 1000 stations. Ultimately, the degree of electrification and the displacement of fossil energy carriers are a function of energy prices, technology progress (regarding conventional, as well as alternative technologies), infrastructure availability, the regulatory framework, vehicle performance, and, finally, the vehicles' total cost of ownership for the end customer.