Electric Vehicles in Rural Communities
Those who live in or near large cities enjoy ready access to public and private transportation, where bus, rail, taxi and ride share options are plentiful. But for smaller communities, getting around can be a real challenge. Well, we recently visited one Texas town that has found a smart, clean solution for shrinking this big problem.
Bastrop, Texas, is located about 30 miles southeast of Austin. It covers nine square miles and is home to around 9000 people. It’s a pleasant place to live or visit, on the edge of Texas hill country with the Colorado river passing nearby; a thriving main street downtown and a relaxed vibe all around.
Typical of small towns in the area, there are no city buses or subways here. Carts, the capital area rural transportation system, offers low-cost van rides for folks to get around within the city limits, or to connect with regional transit options.
And since December of 2019, Bastrop has collaborated with the lone star clean fuels alliance and e-cabs of North America to provide a cost-free and emissions-free micro-transit ride service using GEM low-speed battery electric vehicles. The US Department of Energy funded this two-year pilot project to explore how well these low-speed EV’s could meet a rural community’s first- and last-mile transit needs.
The GEMs carry 5 passengers and can legally travel on roads with speed limits up to 45 miles per hour, though the cabs themselves top out at 25. They can sustain 3 to 4 hours of continuous duty per charge.
E-cabs operates on evenings and weekends, and covers a limited area surrounding downtown Bastrop, but there are no pre-determined routes. It’s all on-demand and on the rider’s schedule, and these things stay busy! They also offer a para-transport option with a foldaway accessibility ramp.
The system allows riders to request electric cab service through a phone call or a mobile app. The e-cab driver is alerted immediately, and pickup time is typically fifteen minutes or less.
Bastrop mayor Connie Schroeder is a frequent rider, and she knows a thing or two about riding in style!
MAYOR CONNIE SCHROEDER: It doesn’t matter if you’re in a small town or a big town, you need to be able to get around. Everybody needs to go to the post office, go to a doctor, maybe get something to eat, and that last mile can be extremely hard. It can be hard if you don’t have a vehicle, it can be hard if you’re elderly.
JOHN DAVIS: Frequently taking the place of larger conventional vehicles, the system’s electric vehicles translate into lower per-trip fuel consumption and emissions. Bastrop’s e-cabs are re-charged using electricity from the Texas grid, which relies on one of the country’s highest proportions of renewable energy sources.
Nationwide, adoption of electric vehicles has lagged in rural areas when compared to urban markets. The hope is that the electric shuttles can increase comfort and familiarity with EV technology in the community, and could lead to greater interest in electric vehicle ownership, too.
CHRIS NIELSEN: This is a good idea because it’s incredibly inexpensive to operate, it’s efficient, the people like it. We have a lot of traction, and we’ve been adopted by the community here. And we’re a part of it now, and this has happened everywhere that we’ve deployed.
JOHN DAVIS: The e-cabs are bringing new mobility options to the citizens of Bastrop, and showing that even a small town can set a big example for clean transportation.
MAYOR CONNIE SCHROEDER: They take care of the environment, they’re convenient, they’re easy, and there isn’t anything better than waving to your friends when you’re in a free e-cab ride.
Waste Not Want Not
JOHN DAVIS: The concept of renewable fuels made from non-petroleum sources has a long history. Indeed, over the last four decades, we’ve seen how renewable fuels have been used with great success as sustainable alternatives to traditional gasoline and diesel. So, we thought we’d check out three examples where fast responses rely on reliable fuels, and see how green solutions are leading the way forward!
Our first stop is Vancouver, Washington, where the city’s fire department has made the switch to renewable diesel for its 27 fire trucks, engines and EMS squads. Also called RD or R99, renewable diesel is not the same as biodiesel. It is refined from plant oils and animal fats to become chemically identical to conventional diesel, which biodiesel is not. R99 performs better in cold weather and can be used without modification in any diesel vehicle.
The process of burning carbon soot out of a conventional diesel’s exhaust particulate filter, known as regen, can take a truck out of service for several hours over the course of a week. Using R99 instead, less soot builds up, increasing the regen intervals and requiring a less intense regen procedure.
The Vancouver Fire Department responds to 51,000 emergency calls each year, so every minute of downtime in the shop can be the difference between life and death.
CHUCK WINKLER: These vehicles have to work 100% of the time, all the time. So, reliability is our number one… Safety and reliability is our number one goal here, and R99 has really helped with that 100% reliability.
JOHN DAVIS: Then there is UPSA, one of world’s largest delivery fleets with 125,000 vehicles. UPS obtains nearly 40% of their transportation fuel from low-carbon sources, and has driven over 4 billion miles on alternative fuels. They are also the largest consumer of renewable natural gas in the transportation industry.
AL MURAT: While electric cars, electric vehicles, Es are going to play an important role, right now CNG and RNG is one of the important bridge points to getting there. So, rather than wait for those alternatives to grow in technology, we’re leveraging RNG right now as one of the best solutions.
JOHN DAVIS: RNG, also known as biomethane, is derived from decomposing organic matter at landfills, wastewater treatment plants, livestock farms, and food production facilities. RNG is interchangeable with conventional natural gas and can be used in existing pipelines.
This renewable natural gas fueling station at UPS’ eastern zone hub in Pennsylvania, is the largest in the UPS network. It services 220 tractors and 150 delivery vehicles, displacing 8 million gallons of diesel fuel per year. Renewable natural gas literally turns waste into clean energy, and is helping big brown deliver on its longtime commitment to go green.
Whenever a green flag drops, the extreme conditions of motorsports competition have long served as a testing ground and accelerator for technological development, and that now includes sustainability. Race organizers around the world have set a goal of achieving carbon neutrality by 2030, and aim to reduce race-related emissions by 30%. The world endurance challenge series, which includes the 24 Hours of Le Mans, now runs on a 100% renewable fuel derived from grape residue.
In a sport where lightning fast reflexes and instant throttle response can mean the difference between first place and also ran, a stable, power-dense fuel is a must, and you gotta admit, running race cars on wine is pretty dang cool!
These three sustainable petroleum substitutes are all winning formulas, ones we will be keeping an eye on.