Alternative Fuels: The Future of Roadtrips
By Caroline Ma | OIDD 245 | Spring 2021
After a long and difficult year, it seems as though we are slowly but surely recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic. As life begins to return to what it was, many of us are asking: What will be the new “normal”?
What will the future of work, relationships, and travel look like?
One thing is clear: the pandemic has accelerated many technology trends that were just coming into prominence in the past few years. It is this intersection of travel and technology that we will spend the next few minutes exploring. The growing popularity of alternative fuel vehicles and the growing prominence of alternative fuel stations across the country suggest that this might be the future of travel.
Electric cars are nothing new. Although owning a Tesla has become a trendy symbol of influence, wealth, and maybe some level of environmental consciousness, electric vehicles have been around for more than 100 years. They soared in popularity at the turn of the 20th Century, faced extinction from the pre- to post-war era, saw the light again in the 70s, and re-entered the mainstream now, during the 21st Century.
To accommodate this new wave of innovation, production, and consumption, alternative fuel stations have popped up all across the country.
The US Department of Energy’s Alternative Fuels Data Center currently tracks 54,776 existing alternative fuel stations and 47 planned stations, in all 50 states and Puerto Rico.
While the East and West Coasts are understandably more populated with these alternative fuel stations, major cities all across the country have seen a rise in numbers. States like California, Texas, New York, Florida, and Washington are leading the drive, with states like North Dakota, Wyoming, Delaware, Montana, and Arkansas picking up the rear.
Stations can be found everywhere, from airports to college campuses, outside grocery stores, and across places of worship. According to the US Department of Energy, the most popular locations for alternative fuel stations are convenience stores, hotels, and car dealerships.
One might notice that these are commonplace locations where people would usually pass by on a drive. This is all in an effort to make charging stations more accessible and convenient for vehicle owners. After all, gasoline-powered vehicles have proven to be resilient competitors, with gas station locations on every street corner in America.
To this end, 91% of alternative fuel stations are open to the public. The remaining 9% require access codes.
These stations accommodate a wide range of alternative fuel types (BD: Biodiesel; CNG: Compressed Natural Gas; E85: Ethanol; ELEC: Electric; HY: Hydrogen; LNG: Liquified Natural Gas; LPG: Propane):
According to the US News 2021 Guide to Green Cars, Battery-Electric Vehicles (also known as BEVs, electric cars, EVs) are the most popular choice for drivers looking to switch from gas cars. Electric cars run on electricity alone. They have a rechargeable battery pack and one or more motors for propulsion. This family is one of the most efficient vehicles available today, able to convert nearly 77% of the energy from the grid to power the car. In comparison, gas-powered vehicles only convert 12 to 30% of the energy stored in gasoline.
Electric cars provide many other benefits, too. They don’t produce any tailpipe emissions, and if powered with energy from wind, solar, water, and nuclear-powered plants, EVs can be virtually zero-emission. On the other hand, every gallon of gasoline burned creates about 8,887 grams of CO2.
Electric cars also operate much smoother, accelerate faster, break easier, and are pretty much silent. Other technologies allow this family of cars to require much less maintenance than gas-powered vehicles, and EV batteries are expected to last longer than the life of most vehicles.
A future where electric cars are the norm is a future with cleaner air and quieter roads.
In the past, few electric cars were available in the market. This, combined with the lack of public charging infrastructure made vehicle ownership difficult. But, in the past decade, many existing car brands and companies have been consistently coming out with their own electric and/or zero-emissions vehicles, giving consumers a wide range to choose from. At the same time, charging infrastructure has been growing exponentially, removing one major hurdle to going green.
This rally shows no signs of weaning. In the coming year, more than 200 stations have been planned or are already in the process of getting built. This number does not include those stations that have yet to be captured by the US Department of Energy’s database.
The growth of alternative fuel vehicles and stations is consistent with a wider trend where technology is being employed to innovate and come up with the solutions that we desperately need. Whether it’s scientists designing plant-based food that weakens our consumption effect on wildlife and animals, or engineers creating car parts that more effectively convert grid energy to engine power, the future relies on our ability to adopt these solutions on a large scale. While we are not quite there yet with alternative fuel vehicles, we closer by the day with new product offerings and growing charging infrastructure.
Next time you go on a road trip this summer and need to make a pit stop, keep an eye out for these alternative fuel stations. Who knows, you may find them in the most unexpected places.
All data used in this article was downloaded from the US Department of Energy’s Alternative Fuel Data Center. Visualizations were created in R Studio.
