Executives from ZeroAvia and Alaska Airlines joined elected officials in Everett, Wash., on Monday to kick off an effort to electrify and fly the largest zero-emissions aircraft yet.
Green aviation company ZeroAvia, which has an R&D center in Everett, ZeroAvia is outfitting a retired Dash 8 Q400 regional turboprop with its hydrogen-powered electric propulsion system. The 76-seat aircraft was provided by Alaska Airlines, which is a ZeroAvia investor, partner and hangar neighbor at Paine Field.
The technology is “revolutionizing the way propulsion evolves,” said Alaska Airlines CEO Ben Minicucci. “This is pretty cool. I’m extremely excited about the future.”
Minicucci ceremoniously handed over the Q400’s keys to Val Miftakhov, ZeroAvia’s founder and CEO. The plane is now emblazoned with ZeroAvia navy and sky blue graphics and Alaska Airlines’ name on the tail.
While the turboprop isn’t ready for takeoff, the startup has rigged a massive ground-test truck with two of its 900-kW (kilowatt) engines and a Q400 propeller. The team did a demonstration of the technology outside of the hangar, spinning up the noticeably quiet engine and propeller.
“What you are witnessing here today is something that years from now, you will look back and say this is the time when the transformation of real large aircraft, real commercial aircraft started,” Miftakhov said.
ZeroAvia will work on the plane at Paine Field. The company employs close to 40 people in the region.
At the event, Washington Gov. Jay Inslee praised the hydrogen-powered electric aircraft for its potential to cut the carbon emissions that are melting Mount Rainier’s glaciers, threatening the region’s salmon and worsening wildfires and air quality in the West.
“The largest hydrogen-powered commercial aircraft is being developed right here in the greatest, most innovative state, the state of Washington,” Inslee said. The governor, a long-time proponent of climate tech, announced Monday he won’t be running for a fourth term.
ZeroAvia’s technology
ZeroAvia launched in 2017 and conducted its first test flight on a six-seat hydrogen-powered electric plane in 2020. In January this year, the company tested its technology on a 19-seat Dornier 228 in a flight near London.
The startup’s main operations are in California and the United Kingdom. In addition to its Everett-based R&D center and partnership with Alaska Airlines, ZeroAvia has strong financial ties to the region. Bill Gates’ Breakthrough Energy Ventures is ZeroAvia’s largest shareholder, Miftakhov said. Amazon’s Climate Pledge Fund has also written checks to the company over multiple investment rounds.
“Aviation is one of those really hard [clean energy] problems where we still have a long way to go. And it’s a big one, and we need to work on it,” said Matt Eggers, BEV partner and ZeroAvia board director.
ZeroAvia’s approach uses hydrogen fuel cells that power electric motors that spin the plane’s propellers.
The Q400, also known as the Dash 8-400, will require four of the 900-kW modular motors like the ones demonstrated in Everett.
The company is also developing its own liquid hydrogen fuel storage and hydrogen fuel cells, incorporating proton-exchange membrane (PEM) technology for the fuel cells.
It has fuel cells that are undergoing flight testing for smaller aircraft. But the larger planes require fuels that can operate at high temperatures — around 200 degrees Celsius or almost 400 degrees Fahrenheit. The company has developed high temperature fuel cells and is testing and scaling them, Miftakhov said.
Route to commercialization
There are some safety concerns around hydrogen fuel in aircraft — in part due to the Hindenburg airship disaster in 1937.
But Miftakhov and other proponents say those concerns are unwarranted.
“The safety of hydrogen as a transportation fuel has been proven in automotive already,” he said in a recent GeekWire interview, noting there are a wide variety of hydrogen-powered vehicles on the road today.
“And on the aviation side, NASA actually has published some of the research that they’ve done that basically says hydrogen can be made safer than regular aviation fuel,” he added.
ZeroAvia hopes to conduct test flights of the the Q400 next year, with the goal of offering that size aircraft for commercial sale by 2027 or 2028.
At the same time, it’s also moving toward commercialization of the smaller 10-20 passenger seat planes like the one it tested near London. Those aircraft could be available by the end of 2025, Miftakhov said.
ZeroAvia has $10 billion in pre-orders of aircraft from “a number of the major global airlines,” according to the company.
But there are still plenty of hurdles. The aircraft have to pass certification through the U.K.’s Civil Aviation Authority or the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration. ZeroAvia needs to establish manufacturing facilities to build its fuel cell and electric propulsion technologies. It also needs to develop sources for clean hydrogen fuel, and is partnering with fossil fuel giant Shell on that front.
Green aviation in Pacific Northwest
The Pacific Northwest — the birthplace of Boeing — is home to multiple companies developing and testing climate friendly aviation solutions, embracing a combination of hydrogen and battery technologies to power aircraft.
In Eastern Washington, Universal Hydrogen is prepping a De Havilland Dash 8-300 turboprop plane for initial flight tests later this year at Grant County International Airport in Moses Lake. The California-based company is partnering with Seattle-based AeroTEC and Everett-based MagniX to develop its aircraft.
In January, Universal Hydrogen announced that it spun up the propeller on the plane’s MagniX-built electric motor powered completely by hydrogen fuel.
Another company in the space, Eviation, successfully performed a test flight of its all-electric Alice airplane in Moses Lake in September 2022. The nine-passenger aircraft was powered by two 640-kW electric motors.
The aviation sector is also pursuing sustainable aviation fuels, or SAF, that can replace existing fossil fuels.
SAF is made from sources including agricultural waste and used cooking oil and can fuel existing aircraft. Washington lawmakers recently included $6.5 million in the state’s transportation budget to create a “world leading” R&D center focused on the low-carbon fuels. The facility will be located at Paine Field.
Editor’s note: Story was updated May 2 with additional information about commercialization challenges.
