Fleet FYIs: A Podcast by Utilimarc

What Are The Most Common Fuel Types in Fleet Today? | Utilimarc Fleet FYIs

October 07, 2022 Utilimarc Season 3 Episode 31
Fleet FYIs: A Podcast by Utilimarc
What Are The Most Common Fuel Types in Fleet Today? | Utilimarc Fleet FYIs
Show Notes Transcript

Show notes for today's episode can be found at: https://www.utilimarc.com/blog

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Gretchen Reese (00:24):

Hey there. Welcome to the Fleet FYIs podcast, the weekly podcast by Utilimarc that reveals how you can make the most of your data for smarter fleet management. My name is Gretchen, and every week you'll hear from me or some of the industry's finest in candid conversations that will not only shed some light on over two decades worth of fleet data insights but also some of the industry's hottest talking points and key metric analysis with the aim to help you better understand your fleet from every angle. But before we begin, if this is the first time you've heard our show, thanks for stopping by.

(00:57):

I'm so glad you decided to come along for the ride with us. But I've got a quick favor to ask you. Once you finish today's episode, if you could take a few minutes to leave us a review on your favorite podcasting platform, we would really appreciate it. Give us a rating, five stars, I hope, or tell us what you liked or leave us a comment or a question about what you've heard in today's episode. If we haven't yet covered a topic that you're interested in hearing more about, let us know. We would be happy to go over it in detail in a later show.

(01:34):

Hello, everyone, and welcome back to another episode of the Fleet FYIs podcast. I'm super excited to dig into this topic today, and I know I tend to say that every single week. But in this case, I was actually made aware of something that I find to be just so mind-blowing and so cool that it all-in-all in terms of new technology and new fuel types, it just, God, it made me so excited just to sit down and be able to talk to you guys today. And it was all on the concept of this renewable, or R99 fuel, which is a renewable diesel, and I'll get more into that later. But anyways, if you haven't heard of it yet, it's really, really, really cool. But along those lines, alternative fuels is the topic today, in case you haven't guessed. Or at least it's part of it, we're talking about the best-performing fuels in general.

(02:23):

And if you remember, we did do an episode on this a few months ago. But I thought especially now with the conversation shifting back to renewables and emissions reduction, it might not be a bad idea to touch on it again, so that's exactly what I'm going to do. Today, I wanted to touch on not just alternative fuels but also from the whole scope of types of fuels that you can use for fleets. We're talking about petrol and diesel, hydrogen and CNG and electric vehicles too, just because I think that going forward you're going to find a lot of fleets that have a solid mix rather than a favoring towards one or the other. I mean, unless you're in a region where you're completely mandated to have an electric fleet or an all CNG fleet. Because who knows, with the way things are going, that could definitely happen, or it could be more along the lines of likelihood as you move forward.

(03:38):

So, in order to start with our fuel comparison and looking at fuels compared to gasoline and diesel, the first thing that we can do is to look at their gasoline gallon equivalent, otherwise known as a GGE. For the fans that I have of acronyms, I am not a fan of acronyms, but if you are, GGE is the one you're going to be looking for here. What it means is this is the amount of fuel needed to equal the same amount of energy contained in one gallon of gasoline. Something to keep in mind, though, is that fuels have varying efficiency and experience loss of energy from the point of fueling to powering the vehicle in motion. This we see a lot with hydrogen and we also see this with CNG as well.

(04:19):

But before we get into the alternative side of these fuels, let's talk about gasoline and diesel just to start off with. These are the fuels that I think everyone in the fleet industry is probably the most familiar with at this point. And they're also the most commonly used fuels across the board. They're the ones that historically we've used the longest and probably will continue to use until we can't anymore. They have numerous applications in all types of vehicles and machinery, from cars and aircraft to construction equipment. And in terms of fuel efficiency, diesel has a higher energy density, containing about 15% more energy than gasoline itself. It's also a much thicker fuel, making it slower to evaporate within the tank. And in direct comparison, one gallon of diesel contains about the same energy as 1.12 or 1 1/4 gallons of gasoline. And the fuel economy ranges widely from vehicle to vehicle. The average diesel vehicle would need probably around 2.94, almost three gallons of diesel to drive a hundred miles, costing about $16.35, accounting for today's record high fuel prices. Average, it might be a little bit higher now.

(05:23):

But in comparison, the average gasoline car would probably require about 3.89 gallons, so just right under four gallons, costing roughly around $17.77. So, slight variation in amount of fuel needed as well as cost there. And for fleet managers, diesel's higher price point is something that could offset the better fuel economy of diesel vehicles in general. However, with a diesel engine having fewer components, one would also have to consider the fewer maintenance costs associated with that diesel-powered vehicle. But now onto the really cool thing that I heard heard about this alternative diesel because it's right on the same topic lines of a diesel vehicle itself. It's called R99. It's a really, really interesting fuel type that is thought that it can be made from animal fats and basically the waste that you have from the food industry and just animal fat in general, and you can create a renewable fuel out of that.

(06:19):

More to come in a later episode. I think that one's going to be an interesting one to delve into. But just so you know, I'm super pumped about this. I think this is going to be so exciting. Now, the second piece I wanted to talk about today is electricity, so those are EVs, for EV fleet managers that are listening today. And as the world slowly but surely moves towards electric vehicles, electricity is becoming another prominent fuel option for fleets. We probably all know this by now, right? And the EV market, right now it depends on lithium ion batteries, which store energy within vehicles and determine the vehicles' capacity and range. And whilst these batteries are extremely efficient at storing energy, over time their performance can be affected by battery degradation, extreme temperatures and phantom drain. And unlike gas and diesel or petrol and diesel, electricity cannot be measured in gallons.

(07:10):

So instead it's measured in kilowatt-hours, for my acronym lovers again, KWH, and within each kilowatt-hour, corresponding with 0.03 gallons of gasoline equivalent. On average though, an electric vehicle requires about 30 kilowatt-hours to reach 100 miles worth of charge. And considering average electricity prices in the United States today, this would probably cost a little over $3 at the given moment. And now electric vehicles are also far more efficient than internal combustion engine vehicles, with EVs converting around 80% of energy to power at the wheels compared to around 20% for internal combustion engine vehicles. Now, we are looking, in this case, at sedans and light duty vehicles. This is not the same for your heavier duty equipment. And obviously, of course, it depends on payload and the use for each vehicle that we're talking about. But this is just standard factory data that we're looking at here.

(08:06):

Next, we've got hydrogen. This is an interesting one for me because I think that because it's piqued the interest of so many automakers that are looking to invest into this cutting edge sustainability solution market, hydrogen becomes a really good solution for those folks. And again, it's a newer technology, so a lot of the testing and a lot of the data isn't out yet, but it's getting there. The hydrogen fuel cells, you might have heard of at this point. And it's one of the most abundant elements on earth. Hydrogen has major potential as a sustainable fossil fuel alternative. So again, fuel cells, fuel cell electric vehicles, or FCEVs, work similarly to battery electric vehicles with that electric motor and no internal combustion engine. However, they do use a propulsion system that converts hydrogen into electricity to power the motor. Now, hydrogen is measured in pounds or kilograms, with each gallon of gasoline equating to one kilogram of hydrogen.

(09:05):

And depending on the vehicle, these fuel cell electric vehicles need about 1.6 kilograms of hydrogen to run about 100 miles, which would probably cost right now around $26.42 So I'm sure you're probably going, "Gretchen, why is it so expensive?" Well, it's not widely used, and it's a newer fuel. So of course, until the demand is there and until the production costs are lowered, you're going to see that really, really high fuel price, which for us lovers of new technology and new fuel types, that can be a little bit of a stab, knife twist. But.

(09:40):

Still, it's an interesting and budding technology that I think that a lot of people are going to be taking advantage of in the near future. And the thing is, in addition to a lack of vehicle options available today, a major barrier to this fuel cell vehicle adoption, it's their operational inefficiency.

(09:57):

When it comes to power to vehicle drive, around 60% of total energy is lost by the time the car is actually doing the driving. And this actually occurs because the energy needs to be transferred from wire to gas and back into electricity, with each transition taking a toll on the energy ultimately available for use. So, it might sound like a deal breaker, but again, it's lower energy efficiencies of gasoline and diesel that you also need to take into account. But at the same time, it's also a renewable option. So potentially as it becomes more feasible to integrate alternative fuels into fleet budgets, you never know, maybe the energy efficiency will be a little bit higher by then. Fingers crossed. Now, last on my list here, we're going to talk about CNG really quickly. And CNG, or compressed natural gas, has been used for decades and is ideal for converting medium to heavy duty internal combustion engine vehicles to be more sustainable.

(10:53):

Now, CNG is a fossil fuel just like gasoline and diesel, but it is considered to be the cleanest of the bunch, which makes it an attractive option for fleets. You might actually see some CNG-powered buses or CNG-powered trash vehicles. I see a lot of them in my home city of Minneapolis, just in case you were wondering. But I always like to see the big CNG sticker on the side. It's quite fascinating to me. But anyways, at the pump CNG is typically sold in gallons of gasoline equivalent, again, GGE. With each gasoline gallon equivalent equals about 5.66 pounds of CNG. Now, fueling takes the same amount of time as with gas and diesel, but the compressed natural gas is stored in a high pressure cylinder aboard instead of within a fuel tank. So, to drive about a hundred miles in a CNG vehicle, it would take about 2.33 GGE, or gasoline gallon equivalent, making CNG more efficient than both gasoline and diesel.

(11:49):

National average prices of CNG are just above $2 per GGE today, so about a hundred miles worth of fuel would probably cost you about $5.80. Again, we're talking about your basic data sets here. It, of course, depends on the use of the vehicle and the purpose, and as well as how much payload you have and the routes you're taking and the environment. But as a domestically-produced fuel, and this is a really good point and a little star on your star chart as you might consider. A noteworthy benefit for fleet managers is the stability of CNG's price because it's not as volatile as gasoline, and all things considered CNG's a great option for fleets that are looking to improve on sustainability and cut costs without having to completely overturn their fleet.

(13:02):

So, the bottom line here, having discussed and compared these top fuels and how they perform, I think it's really clear to see that each comes with their own list of pros and cons. Remember, we always talk about on this show how sustainability is not a one size fits all solution. And that'll be true until the last day this show runs. It'll be true probably until fuel ceases to exist, all in all. But ultimately, the right fit comes down to a fleet's individual needs and goals, as well as their budget and their own priorities. And for fleets prioritizing sustainability or emissions reduction, electric vehicles can seem like a no-brainer. However, if they're not right for your fleet or if you have a primarily heavy duty fleet where the EV options aren't available yet, a fuel like CNG could be a really, really great solution until you have more options available to expand a sustainability strategy.

(13:54):

Regardless, it's worth taking a closer look at your fleet's vehicle and fuel mix to see if some changes could be made in any areas. And the good thing is technology is constantly advancing, which can mean better fuel efficiency in newer vehicles and a lesser loss of energy throughout the wells to wheels fuel cycle. And the best part is you always have access to the data that can tell you where to go from here. Now, I'm curious to hear what you think. Do you have a preference for any of these alternative fuels? Are you still a classic petrol or diesel kind of person? Let me know. Are you interested in hearing more about the data that can help move fleets forward in a fleet sustainability transition journey? Tell me, let me know. Send me an email. You can tag me on LinkedIn. Use the hashtag Utilimarc Fleet FYIs. Or you can even send me a carrier pigeon because you all know I love a carrier pigeon. Anyways, that's all from me this week. I will chat to you all again next Friday. Ciao.

(14:56):

Hey there. I think this is the time that I should cue the virtual high five, because you've just finished listening to another episode of the Fleet FYIs podcast. If you're already wanting more content, head over to utilimarc.com, which is Utilimarc with a C, U-T-I-L-I-M-A-R-C dot com for this episode's show notes and extra insights coming straight from our analysts to you. That's all from me this week, so until next time, I'll catch you later.