Fuel Institute's 2020 Research Agenda Includes Impact of Home Delivery, Ride-Sharing & More

ALEXANDRIA, Va. — The finalized Fuels Institute 2020 research agenda will address critical issues facing the transportation energy market.

The mission of the nonprofit group is to deliver objective, collaborative research that stakeholders can use to make more informed business and regulatory decisions in the transportation energy market.

To that end, the Fuels Institute will follow these topics in 2020:

• Impact of at-home delivery services — How at-home delivery services affect vehicle miles traveled (VMT), fuel demand, refueling behavior, alternative vehicle adoption and more.
• Driver demographics 2.0 — How driver demographics and driver behavior such as ride hailing affect VMT. This will include a regional breakdown where data permits.
• Electric vehicle (EV) market developments — A white paper that combines Fuels Institute original and curated data on factors affecting the pace and development of EV adoption.
• Impact of transportation-energy related initiatives — The comparison of how transportation energy-related initiatives affect emissions, congestion mitigation and consumer economics.
• Ride-hailing analysis — The rate of ride-hailing growth and the impact it has on transportation energy demand, fleet diversification and the use of personally owned vehicles.
• E15 market and regulatory analysis — Includes a compilation of retail experiences.

Studying these key topics will help stakeholders take advantage of market opportunities, stated the Fuels Institute.

Along with the planned research agenda, several projects the organization commissioned in 2019 will be published in 2020, including:

• Understanding the dynamics of the electric vehicle market: An evaluation of the value proposition that would result from consumer acceptance of EV technology. This report will include an analysis of the total cost of ownership; infrastructure requirements; anticipated consumer recharging behavior; and the relationship of EVs to competing technology.
• Biomass-based diesel market and performance overview: An analysis of the current biodiesel and renewable diesel market, including supply, elasticity of demand, performance and efficiency characteristics as well as the economic incentives and regulatory mandates affecting its purchase and sale.
• Driver demographics 2.0: A refreshed and updated version of the first Driver Demographics report, which will analyze VMT through an examination of driver demographics, driver behavior and the impact of ride hailing.