Five hundred fuel cell electric trucks are going to work in Shanghai in what's reckoned to be the world's largest use of the technology in commercial transportation.

The Dongfeng Special Vehicle metro delivery trucks use fuel cell technology developed by Canada-based Ballard Power Systems and a fuel cell engine designed by Shanghai Reinventing Fire Technology (Re-Fire).

The 6.4-metre trucks can carry a 3.2-tonne payload and have a range of up to 330 kilometres.

They'll be run by a newly-established fuel cell electric vehicle operator – Shanghai Sinotran New Energy Automobile Operation.

A Ballard joint venture with a Chinese company is now producing the Ballard-designed fuel cell systems in Guangdong.

Ballard president and CEO Randy MacEwen says that "Re-Fire has developed a leading position as a system integrator in the fast-moving Chinese fuel cell transportation market."

He says that it's "not surprising" that the groundbreaking fleet is going to work in Shanghai – a city that is a leader in encouraging the commercial adoption of fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs).

Re-Fire CEO Robin Lin noted, "Fuel cell electric commercial trucks represent a large and attractive market opportunity in China, particularly where user requirements favour long range, heavy payloads and fast refuelling.

Lin says that the 500 trucks have been prepared by Re-Fire and have been approved by authorities: "We expect to deploy all 500 trucks in 2018, subject to parallel activities, including appropriate scaling of fuelling infrastructure and our service platform."

Last year Shanghai authorities launched the Shanghai Fuel Cell Vehicle Development Plan – a groundbreaking scheme aimed at producing 3000 FCEVs by 2020.

Two recently-constructed hydrogen refuelling stations are now in operation in the southern Chinese city, with two more scheduled to be completed in the next three months. As part of the plan five to 10 stations are scheduled for completion in the next two years.