Carpool Chats

We will not be able to influence the environment through vehicle and energy options if consumers do not have access to them or decide not to purchase and use them. As part of his role at NACS, Jeff Lenard is responsible for overseeing consumer surveys that help explain what consumers want, and the critical elements that drive their decisions related to vehicle choice and driving patterns. Understanding the consumer's mindset is key to understanding what options might exist to guide consumers toward lower emission options.

With special guest:

Jeff Lenard, Vice President, Strategic Industry Initiatives, NACS

Hosted by:

John Eichberger, Executive Director, Fuels Institute

Stephen Hightower is the Chief Operating Officer of Hightowers Petroleum Company - a leading energy supplier in North America. Over their 40 years of existence, Hightowers has consistently navigated the changing conditions of the transportation energy industry to seek new opportunities for growth. Much can be learned from their progressive stance on things like Environment, Social, and Governance planning and performance and how their core values impact their ability to evolve.

With special guest:

Stephen Hightower, Chief Operating Officer, Hightowers Petroleum Company

Hosted by:

John Eichberger, Executive Director, Fuels Institute

Increasing demands from investors, consumers, and policymakers make ESG pursuits a timely and fiscally responsible consideration. Without adequate ESG planning, public and private companies risk the loss of access to capital as well as customer loyalties. Listen in as we discuss the ESG movement and why it matters to your business.

With special guest:

Jerry Soverinsky, Creative Writer and Author of Fuels Institute's ESG Report

Hosted by:

Jeff Hove, Vice President, Fuels Institute

How do we make sure that we are meeting the energy and transportation needs of rural or other communities that sometimes get missed in everything we do in regards to transportation and fuels? A discussion with the Fuels Institute's new Board member, Kirk McCullick with Growmark.

With special guest:

Kirk McCullick, Executive Director, Marketing & Business Development, Growmark

Hosted by:

Jeff Hove, VP, Fuels Institute

Elevated and volatile oil prices are gaining headlines throughout the world and imposing higher transportation costs on consumers. To provide insight into what is contributing to higher energy costs and to explore what options might be available to bring relief at the pump, Carpool Chats sat down with two of the nation’s leading oil market analysts and current Fuels Institute board members to get their experienced perspective.

Hosted by:

John Eichberger, Director, Fuels Institute

Electrification is coming, but internal combustion engines will remain a large portion of the ground transportation fleet for many years to come - whether as typical ICE vehicles or used in hybrid vehicles. With that in mind, continued research and development with respect to improving the emissions profile and efficiency of the ICE engine is paramount.

Hosted by:

Jeff Hove, Vice President, Fuels Institute

In January, the Fuels Institute published the report, "Life Cycle Analysis Comparison: Electric and Internal Combustion Engine Vehicles," comparing the environmental impact of each type of vehicle from well to wheel, including their energy sources. This discussion delves deeper into how the market can decarbonize most effectively, leveraging EVs when and where they make sense while ensuring other options are deployed effectively to contribute to attaining the decarbonization objective.

Hosted by:

John Eichberger, Executive Director, Fuels Institute

Reducing carbon emissions from the U.S. transportation section will be a challenge requiring the utilization of a range of solutions. With combustion engines making up the vast majority of the fleet today and for the foreseeable future, biofuels represent one of the most practical solutions to lowering U.S. transportation emissions in the near term. But what is the future of the biofuels market? What are the policies being considered to support ethanol, biodiesel and renewable diesel and what are the barriers to biofuels adoption - things like fuel compatibility issues, feedstock availability, and vehicle fleet projections? Listen in as Stratas Advisors and Fuels Institute discuss these issues and more and look for our report coming out in spring 2022!

Hosted by:

Jeff Hove, Vice President, Fuels Institute

The Biden administration has announced a goal to deploy half a million EV chargers by 2030 - but how many do we actually need? Where do we need them? What is the appropriate timing for installing them? And what types of chargers do we need considering the differing use cases and other factors affecting how, when and where vehicles charge? The Fuels Institute has commissioned a report by IHS Markit to answer these exact questions and this podcast provides a high level overview of the report's findings.

Hosted by:

John Eichberger, Director, Fuels Institute 

Deciding to install EV charging equipment on your property is a huge decision. Obviously, you need to think about the business case - how much everything will cost and how much you will charge - but more than that, you need to understand how to optimize placement of the equipment, how to work with local utilities to get it connected and how to navigate the complex permitting process. Listen in to discover the exact questions you need to ask and factors you need to consider before building a charging station on your property and read more details in our full report, "Installing and Operating Public Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure."

Hosted by:

John Eichberger, Executive Director, Fuels Institute

In 2022, the Fuels Institute will release a report comparing the life cycle carbon emissions of electric, combustion and hybrid vehicles that looks at every stage of a vehicle’s life to help identify opportunities for effective carbon reductions. Listen in as the authors of the report discuss the different sets of assumptions that go into modeling, the hotly debated topics in this space such as exactly when in the EV's lifecycle it becomes less carbon intense than a typical ICE vehicle and the sensitivity factors that affect this time period. It is a fascinating discussion that will leave you eager to read the full report.

The Fuels Institute will publish a report in early 2022 analyzing the efficacy of programs and policies aimed at supporting the installation of EV charging infrastructure. In this episode, Jonathan Norris with ICF, one of the leaders of the project, discusses what they learned about which programs seem to be the most effective and why. This episode and the upcoming report should be instrumental in guiding EVSE program designs. Listen in as ICF discusses the report in more depth and be sure to download the report from www.fuelsinstitute.org when it is made public early 2022!

Financial institutions are driving an environmental, social and governance (ESG) movement, conditioning investment decisions and adjusting access to capital terms based upon a company's plan and performance. It is something both publicly traded and private companies need to be aware of. Having an ESG plan in place will benefit your bottom line and expand available business opportunities. This movement is only continuing to grow and getting out ahead of it is vital.

Last year, oil prices traded at negative values for the first time ever, and now they are closing in on $100 per barrel. The world is witnessing increased demand post-COVID shutdown at the same time that supply is trying to catch up. Simultaneously, there are many policy decisions driving discrepancy between supply and demand and driving energy prices higher. Listen in for CEA's take on what is going on in the market and why we need to focus on diversifying our energy resources to continue delivering affordable and reliable energy sources for consumers.

Public charging is a significant part of the EV ownership experience. The ability to charge their vehicle conveniently, is a key factor in the broader adoption of EVs. J.D. Power released a new report, "U.S. Electric Vehicle Experience (EVX) Public Charging Study," that dives into the public charging experience. We spoke with Brent Gruber, senior director of global automotive with J.D. Power, to learn more about this study and the tangibles that consumers are looking for with their EV ownership experience.

The future of transportation requires stakeholders to decarbonize systems to meet climate and policy demands at a rapid pace. Hyzon Motors is focused on decarbonizing mobility, starting with medium and heavy-duty trucks and buses. To better understand the diversity and complexity of the different energy needs, we spoke with Parker Meeks, Chief Strategy Officer, of Hyzon Motors.

As the world works to decarbonize the transportation energy sector, headlines tend to focus on the light-duty vehicle market. In reality, medium and heavy-duty trucks represent less than 10% of the global vehicle market, but contribute a significant share of greenhouse gas emissions to the sector's overall emissions total. John Eichberger, Executive Director of the Fuels Institute, sat down with Kimberly Okafor, Strategic Business Development Manager at Trillium, to learn how they are working to meet the challenge of decarbonizing the heavy-duty sector while maintaining the needs of today's customers.

COVID-19 has impacted every aspect of our lives, including our travel habits. Listen as Bob Pishue, transportation analyst at INRIX, shares his mobility analysis that explores transportation trends including miles-driven and travel times. Download the INRIX 2020 Global Traffic Scorecard.

It will take an aggressive approach to reduce carbon emissions from the transportation sector. The solutions must support the environment while preserving affordable transportation options for consumers. Listen as Bryan Kaus, business improvement lead (commercial) at Phillips 66, explains how the transportation industry can work together to find realistic and practical paths towards a lower carbon future.