Revo photo
One of Revo's zero-emissions vehicles, at Tweed.
Emissions-free vehicles are en route to Tweed — as the Morris Cove regional airport won city permission to install a hydrogen fueling station and an electric vehicle charger to help phase out gasoline cars from its fleet.
The City Plan Commission unanimously approved those plans Wednesday night during its latest monthly online meeting.
The commissioners signed off on a site plan and coastal site plan submitted by Tweed’s airport management company, Avports, to construct a hydrogen fueling dispenser and an electric vehicle charger for fleet vehicles at Tweed New Haven Airport at 155 Burr St.
Ruben Creus, the CEO of the Virginia-based tech company Revo Zero, told the commissioners that Tweed’s current fleet of cars are mostly powered by diesel and gasoline. He said his company is helping the airport transition to electric and hydrogen-powered vehicles, which emit no planet-warming greenhouse gasses.
Hydrogen-powered cars take five minutes to refill, he said, as opposed to the several hours it can take to fully charge an electric car’s battery.
“These cars are available on the market” today, he said. Toyota sells them. Hyundai sells them. “You just need [hydrogen] dispensers to use them. That’s what we’re doing in the airport.”
Avports spokesperson Andrew King said that the airport management company will be adding two hydrogen-powered vehicles to its fleet once Revo installs the hydrogen fueling station. This will be in addition to three electric vehicles already in use by Avports today.
“In the future, as vehicles in our fleet need to be replaced, we will prioritize Hydrogen and EV options for our needs here at HVN,” King added. “We currently have applied for a grant from the FAA to add Electric Shuttle buses and a Sweeper to our program at Tweed.”
The newly approved hydrogen dispenser and EV battery charger will be installed in the airport’s existing parking lot. There will be spaces for two electric vehicles and two hydrogen vehicles.
“The project will involve the restriping of an existing striped bituminous area north of the guard shack and driveway lanes,” according to a City Plan staff report recommending approval of the application. “A concrete equipment pad will be installed in the existing striped bituminous area to support the hydrogen fuel control center.” A new six-foot-tall fence and bollards will also enclose the hydrogen-fueling area, which will be open only to airport vehicles.
In response to Westville Alder and City Plan Commissioner Adam Marchand’s questions about the airport’s request for a waiver to the reflective heat impact (RHI) portion of the site plan review for this project, Creus noted that these vehicles — both hydrogen-powered and EV — “are zero emissions.” A normal gasoline vehicle releases five tons of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere each year, he said. “That creates heat and pollution. These vehicles will create zero emissions.” And the hydrogen used to power the vehicles “comes from renewable sources that create zero CO2” as well.
Ultimately, the City Plan department recommended approval of this plan as it represents “an effort by Tweed New Haven airport to reduce their dependance on fossil fuels for their fleet of airport support vehicles and shuttles,” per the staff report.
With that, the commissioners voted unanimously to approve.
Where the hydrogen dispenser and EV charger will be installed.
Out of this comes hydrogen.