Carpool Chats – Details, episodes & analysis

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

There is incredible diversity among the types of vehicles and use-cases in both the medium-duty class and heavy-duty class which must be taken into account when considering decarbonization options. It turns out that just a few applications actually represent the vast majority of emissions, so you will have the most impact by targeting those applications first.

John Eichberger, 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.