I've long been a proponent of hydrogen fuel cells as an alternative to batteries for propelling zero-emissions vehicles having driven my first one back in 2006   http://aol.it/VhzTls. The fuel cell technology works and it's mainly a matter of optimizing the designs to reduce manufacturing cost and working out a distribution system. 

The partnership between Ford and Daimler is a natural fit since both have long used fuel cell stacks from Ballard Power Systems. When Ballard decided to focus on stationary power systems a few years ago, Daimler bought the automotive division of the company with Ford taking a minority stake. 

The other automakers that have remained publicly committed fuel cells are +Hyundai Worldwide, +Honda and to a lesser degree +General Motors. GM has been pretty quiet on the fuel cell side in the last couple of years since winding down Project Driveway http://aol.it/ViFkyP and sending the Chevy Equinox fuel cell vehicles to Hawaii.