Kim Okafor, general manager of zero emission solutions for Love's Travel Stops and Trillium Energy, testified Tuesday before the U.S. House of Representatives Subcommittee on Highways and Transit.
Okafor was in Congress on behalf of NATSO, representing truck stops and travel plazas, and SIGMA, America's leading fuel marketers. The two organizations represent around 80% of all fuel sold at retail.
"The refueling experience for alternative fuels should be as similar as possible to today's refueling experience and offer the services and amenities that consumers have come to expect alongside such a network, including 24-hour access, foodservice, security, restrooms and lighting," Okafor told the subcommittee. "Fuel retailers are best positioned to provide alternative sources of transportation energy because we have a keen understanding of on-the-go refueling preferences based on decades of studying them. This fact is essential when it comes to adoption of EVs and alternative fuels."
Fuel retailers are at the forefront of investments in new refueling technologies the two groups say in a news release. The industry is participating in the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure grant program in nearly every state. Continued incentivization of private investment in alternative fuel infrastructure will facilitate a faster, more widespread transition to electric vehicle charging, the groups argue.
"For any solution to work, it must promote competitive market dynamics and work with consumers' existing behavior and the business infrastructure we have," Okafor says. "If policy does that and ensures a functioning private market, then private dollars will make sure infrastructure is there to meet consumers' needs. If that is not done, it is likely that any public dollars spent will be stranded and wasted in ways that do not serve an appreciable number of consumers and cost far more than any benefit they produce."
For heavy-duty trucking, Okafor told the subcommittee that hydrogen can leverage the same refueling infrastructure and energy supply chain while providing the same refueling experience as liquid fuels.
"We believe that the commercial and emission-reduction opportunities in hydrogen are more crystallized and compelling than is the case with electricity," Okafor says. "Transitioning to battery electric trucks would adversely impact commercial trucking operations by extending refueling times and injecting a patchwork of electricity tariffs and regulations into what today is an efficient private commercial trucking market."
