Blog Post


Observations on the current happenings in the world of vehicles and the fuels that power them from Fuels Institute Executive Director, John Eichberger.

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A Core Motivation of Decarbonization

  Jeff Hove |  May 19, 2022

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has proposed rules on Environmental and Social Responsibility (ESG) that may be finalized as early as December 2022. For this reason, and many others, it is critical that businesses engaged in the transportation sector pay attention to their environmental performance. Here’s a detailed explanation of why. 

E15 Summer Waiver: Key Questions About the Market

  John Eichberger |  April 14, 2022

The sale of E15 during the summer months is currently prohibited due to environmental regulations. The goal of this action is to provide a lower price fuel option for consumers and encourage more retail facilities to offer the fuel. The Fuels Institute took a look at the market to better understand what impact this decision might have on fuel supply and prices.

MHD Vehicles – Dynamic, Complex and Deserving of Special Attention

  John Eichberger |  April 2022

The medium and heavy-duty vehicle (MHDV) market policies, targets, and expectations cannot be the same as those for light-duty vehicles because the MHDV market is vastly more complex. To inform the broad community on the nuances of MHDV decarbonization, the Fuels Institute collaborated with Guidehouse Insights to highlight the complexity of the market in a new report.

Fuels Prices – In Context, not Hype

  John Eichberger |  February 24, 2022

The price of oil and gasoline is once again dominating news coverage, and with good reason - prices haven’t been this high since 2014. The bottom line to understanding prices has its roots back in high school economics - supply and demand. In an effort to move away from the rhetoric, let’s take a look at some historic data that will provide insight into some of the fundamentals affecting the market today.

How to Fund EV Infrastructure

  John Eichberger |  January 2022

Earlier this year, the Fuels Institute commissioned a study evaluating which policies and programs seem to be the most effective in supporting EVSE deployment. The report, written by the consulting firm ICF, will be published in early 2022. In this edition of The Commute, I want to share with you a preview of what they found regarding programs that help fund EVSE deployment.

Life Cycle Carbon Emissions of Electric and Combustion Vehicles

  John Eichberger |  December 2021

As the world pursues a vision of a decarbonized transportation market, the contribution of battery electric vehicles (BEV) will be significant and instrumental. Yet, one must not confuse the lack of a tailpipe with a vehicle that has no carbon emissions. An upcoming report from the Fuels Institute, “Life Cycle Analysis Comparison – Electric and Internal Combustion Engine Vehicles,” to be released in January 2021, takes an objective look at the carbon emissions from each phase in the life cycle of BEVs, ICEVs and hybrid electric vehicles (HEV) to help determine where opportunities exist to most effectively take carbon out of transportation.

Should I Stay or Should I Go

  John Eichberger |  October 2021

Global leaders have made it clear that they want to transition away from hydrocarbons to address their concerns about climate change, but sharp increases in energy prices and, in some regions actual energy shortages, in the latter half of 2021 are compelling some to at least temporarily reverse course and increase their reliance on fossil fuels.
 

There’s Only One Way to Rock

  John Eichberger |  August 2021

National and regional governments continue to announce plans to phase out the internal combustion engine (ICE) and push for battery electric vehicles (BEV) and fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs) powered by hydrogen. Each of these technologies have a lot to offer and will provide great benefits to consumers and the environment, but they may not be applicable to all use cases and, despite government efforts, the market’s transition to these vehicles will take a very long time.

Money (That’s What I Want)

  John Eichberger |  June 2021

While the primary focus of discussion these days is how to decarbonize transportation and the pace of market expansion for electric vehicles, we must not forget that access to reliable and affordable transportation is a key factor for economic opportunity. To that end, one of the hurdles new transportation technologies must overcome is cost – not just of the vehicles, but in comparison to other modes of transportation.  

Hybrid Theory

  John Eichberger |  May 7, 2021

The first hybrid vehicle introduced to the United States debuted 22 years ago - the Honda Insight. The following year, the Toyota Prius entered the market and the hybrid market began to accelerate quickly. By 2007, sales eclipsed 350,000 units from just 13 models, and some were predicting that more than 100 hybrid models would soon be available for sale in the U.S. Those forecasts were never realized and year after year sales hovered at or below 3%, setting a record of 3.2% of sales in 2013 before slipping to less than 2% just three years later. But recent data indicates that automobile manufacturers may not have given up on this technology, and in the first quarter of 2021 hybrids clawed up to 4.5% of sales. What has changed and what can we learn from the experience of hybrid vehicles?