A hydrogen cold weather test site is planned for the Selfridge Air National Guard (SANG) Base in Selfridge, Michigan. The test site is a collaboration among the U. S. Army, Hyundai-Kia and Chevron and is part of the U. S. DOE (Department of Energy) Controlled Hydrogen Fleet and Infrastructure Demonstration and Validation Program. Now, there’s mouthful.
What this is basically is a way to test the dispensing of hydrogen and the performance of fuel cell vehicles in cold weather. Hyundai will provide five Tucson FCEV fuel cell hybrids for the program. Chevron will provide the fueling station that uses steam reformation of methane to produce hydrogen and is able to refuel up to 10 vehicles per day.
The Army and National Guard will use the vehicles on a daily basis for mission related purposes. This is part of an ongoing interest by the Army to develop alternative energy resources to lessen the military’s dependence upon foreign fossil fuels, seen as a security issue that urgently needs to be addressed.