The fifth annual Alternative Clean Transportation (ACT) Expo, held May 4-7 at the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center in Dallas, was a showcase for new product and technology unveilings to an audience of more than 3,500 clean transportation stakeholders and 200 plus exhibitors. Electric Drive Transportation Association became one of the new partners for the event, and conference attendees navigated through a series of keynote speakers, workshops, and exhibit hall visits while using a new mobile device application introduced by ACT Expo organizer Gladstein, Neandross & Associates.
Some of the significant announcements included:
- Ford Motor Co. said that the 2016 F-150 pickup will be available with a 5.0-liter V8 engine that can run on compressed natural gas or propane.
- Alliance AutoGas introduced the first-ever Class 8 truck propane-diesel blended fuel system, which has been approved by the US Environmental Protection Agency as emissions-compliant. The California Air Resources Board has also certified the two bi-fuel engine models that include a 13-liter Volvo engine and 14-liter Detroit Diesel engine.
- Cummins Westport will offer the ISB6.7 G, a 6.7-liter dedicated natural gas engine for medium-duty trucks, shuttle buses, and vocational vehicles. It’s based on the Cummins ISB6.7 diesel engine platform and will operate exclusively on natural gas – either compressed natural gas or liquefied natural gas – and will begin production by mid-2016.
- UPS announced that it has an agreement with Clean Energy Fuels to purchase its Redeem brand renewable natural gas (RNG). UPS fueling stations in Sacramento, Fresno and Los Angeles will begin dispensing RNG this month; the delivery giant said that the deal makes it the largest user of RNG in the U.S. shipping industry.
- Smith Electric Vehicles is coming back to the market, announcing a $35 million joint venture with Hong Kong battery and vehicle producer FDG Electric Vehicles Limited. The JV allows Smith to “go to our partners and say, we have stability, capital, capacity,” said business strategy and process VP Terry Pageler.
- Penske Truck Leasing announced that the US Department of Energy has awarded the transportation company a $400,000 grant for the company’s Alternative Fuel Vehicle (AFV) Demonstration and Enhanced Driver Experience Project, to be administered by the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy. Penske will utilize the funds to further introduce alternative fuel vehicles to its customer base.
- Toyota named eight Northern and Southern California dealerships that will sell its upcoming Mirai hydrogen fuel cell vehicle. Toyota is working with FirstElement Fuel on a California fueling station network, and will offer free fuel to its first customers. Air Liquide will build 12 hydrogen fueling stations in New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Rhode Island.
- Clean Energy Fuels Corp. showcased its station that sells both liquefied and compressed natural gas as part of a tour in Dallas. Other tours included a Penske Truck Leasing maintenance facility and visits to Shell LNG, Questar Fueling, and Love’s natural-gas fueling stations.
- This year’s program featured a number of new workshops and forums coordinated with Electric Drive Transportation Association. They focused on electric drive technology and how these vehicles are meeting the needs of drivers and fleet operators while advancing energy security, environmental sustainability, and economic independence from a monopoly fuel.
Highlights from speakers included:
- BSR, a global nonprofit that researches sustainable fuels, issued reports exploring the challenges faced by fleets and truck operators in making clean fuels work. With biofuel mandates, California’s low-carbon fuel standard, and other market forces, fleets and truck operators can feel like they are being pulled in multiple directions, BSR said. In the near future, BSR will be offering truckers and others companies in the logistics supply chain an analysis to help them make decisions on what types of trucks they should purchase.
- Trucking industry executives said they see a future for natural gas as a viable fuel for the industry despite relatively low gasoline and diesel prices. One of the panelists, Drew Cullen, senior vice president for fuels and facility services for Penske Truck Leasing, said he was optimistic even though grant programs are not coming together as fast as they could be.
- Frito-Lay North America has 300 compressed natural-gas tractors and plans to add another 100 by the end of the year, along with 280 electric box trucks, said Gregg Roden, the company’s senior vice president, during a speaker session.
- Margo Oge, former director of the Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of Transportation and Air Quality, participated in a speaker panel on the challenges women face while working in the trucking industry. Women are still greatly underrepresented in that industry, and those who are employed still face challenges balancing work and home life, according to a panel of female executives. They also tend to be the sole representative of their gender in the board room, Oge said.
- T. Boone Pickens said that he’s observed six collapses in the price of oil since 1980, like the recent one with a 50% drop in prices that made diesel much cheaper. Diesel will continue to dominate trucking fuel for several years, but Pickens thinks that the price of natural gas will continue to be cheaper than diesel.
The next ACT Expo will take place May 2-5, 2016, in Long Beach, Calif. Click here for conference coverage of 2015 ACT Expo.
