LOS ANGELES (Bloomberg) -- Hyundai has started retail leasing of its hydrogen-powered Tucson crossover as the South Korean carmaker and competitors look to expand the market for alternative zero-emission electric vehicles.

The automaker said Tuesday’s delivery of the small crossover to Tim Bush, a Newport Beach, Calif.-based insurance agent, is the first of a “mass-produced” fuel cell auto to a retail customer. The company is promoting the Tucson, already in fleets in Korea and Europe, with a $499-a-month lease in California that includes unlimited hydrogen refueling for three years.

“Fuel-cell technology is not intended to replace electric vehicles,” Dave Zuchowski, CEO of Hyundai’s U.S. sales unit, said Tuesday at a Hyundai dealership in Tustin, Calif. “We see it as the next electric vehicle, but with no compromises.”

Hyundai will be followed in 2015 by Toyota and Honda in marketing hydrogen vehicles to drivers in California, Japan, Korea and Europe. The companies say that by making electricity needed for power on board, rather than storing it in batteries, fuel cell vehicles offer greater driving range and versatility than rechargeable cars such as the Nissan Leaf or the BMW i3 hatchback.

Zuchowski in an interview declined to say how many fuel cell Tucsons Hyundai will deliver to U.S. customers this year. Volume will rise in 2015 and beyond as more hydrogen fuel stations open in California, he said, without elaborating.

Hydrogen stations

The California Energy Commission is providing about $47 million for 28 new hydrogen stations, along with 10 already in operation and 16 more in development. By 2016, automakers are counting on more than 50 operating in the state, enough to support tens of thousands of fuel cell vehicles.

Automakers are under pressure in California, as well as across the United States, Europe, Japan and South Korea, to offer vehicles that emit little or no carbon pollution and reduce petroleum use. While fuel cell vehicles, like battery electric cars, produce no tailpipe pollution, a lack of fueling infrastructure has been a hurdle to bringing them to market.

Driving range for the hydrogen Tucson is about 265 miles (426 kilometers) and can be refueled in a few minutes, Zuchowski said.

“The first delivery of a mass-produced fuel cell vehicle to a retail customer brings us one step closer to materially reducing the CO2 levels in the vehicles we drive,” Zuchowski said.