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Fuels Institute Exec to US Congress: Vehicle and fuels market will evolve slowly

“The market will change, but absent significant influence from an external factor, such as government policy, it likely will take decades before major shifts in vehicle composition and the fuels that power them will be achieved.”



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Author: PetrolPlaza Correspondent Daniel Infante Tuaño

The said statement was what John Eichberger, executive director of the Fuels Institute, wanted to highlight during “The Future of Transportation and Fuels” hearing of the United States House Energy and Commerce Committee’s Subcommittee on the Environment held last March 7th.

In his testimony, Eichberger noted that vehicles equipped with a new technology would take years to gain significant share of vehicles on the road.  Even with the 26% sales growth of electric and hybrid vehicles from 2016 to 2017, the impact on the overall fleet by 2035 would be relatively limited.

Nonetheless, he recognized advancements in vehicle technology and identified factors that could advance the rate of market change--high oil prices, fleet adoption of electric and hybrid vehicles, increased demand for mobility services, and global regulations banning internal combustion engines.

At the same time, sustained low oil prices and advancements in the efficiency of internal combustion engine design, potentially paired with a change in fuel specification, could likely slow the rate of market change, explained Eichberger.

The Fuels Institute, founded by NACS in 2013, is a non-profit, unbiased research-oriented think tank that evaluates market issues related to vehicles and the fuels that power them.

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