Oct. 23--You're driving around Kansas City in an electric car and notice its battery is nearly out of power. No problem. You head for the nearest public charging station for a fill-up.

The scenario is closer to reality than you realize. With electric cars soon to hit the market, Kansas City Power & Light plans to have 10 charging stations in place by next summer.

The charging stations are just one example of a push in the area to boost the use of alternative fuels such as electricity and natural gas.

--Kansas City's government, which already has many vehicles that use natural gas, is poised to increase the number of alternative-fuel vehicles in a big way. The city is also looking for ways to make natural-gas fuel available to the public and for services like the tourist trolleys planned for Westport.

--The Kansas City, Kan., School District plans to operate up to 30 hybrid-electric and natural-gas school buses and have its own natural-gas and electric fueling stations.

--The University of Missouri-Kansas City intends to install an electric charging station that will be available to the public. It will also be used to charge the university's first electric truck when it buys it.

--A group is working on developing a corridor of natural-gas fueling stations from Kansas City to St. Louis and in other cities in the region.

The hopes for alternative fuels have ebbed and flowed over the years, but with the approaching debut of electric cars, they now seem to be on the upswing.

Some electric trucks are already available, and the first full-fledged electric cars capable of highway travel are scheduled to roll off the assembly line next year.

They are being tagged as game-changers the U.S. is counting on to reduce pollution and its addiction to imported oil.

"We stand on the threshold of a real revolution in the propulsion of vehicles," Bill Ford, chairman of Ford Motor Co., told an electric-vehicles conference Wednesday.

Particulars a problem

Nagging details need to be handled before alternative fuels can fulfill their roles.

Infrastructure to provide natural gas has been a problem in most of the U.S. It also looms as an issue for electricity.

A $100 million project backed by the U.S. Department of Energy will put 12,750 charging stations in five states: Arizona, California, Oregon, Tennessee and Washington. They will test and analyze the usage and charging patterns for electric vehicles.

"We want charging to be available where people work, live and play," said Colin Read, marketing director for Ecotality, a company that makes electric chargers and is the project manager for the study.

One concern of automakers is that consumers will suffer from "range anxiety" -- fears that their electric cars will run out of power while on the road. A network of quick-charging stations could help allay those fears, besides giving the vehicles extended range.

Ensuring that the U.S. is prepared for electric vehicles and able to charge them at home, work or elsewhere is considered crucial to their success.

Some electric utilities are waiting to see if the electric vehicles become popular. But others, including KCP&L, say they believe the electricity industry must be ready so consumers and businesses are not discouraged by any difficulties in getting cars charged.

"It's a chicken or egg thing," said Katie McDonald, a KCP&L spokeswoman. "We want to take a leadership role in how this technology will work."

Kansas City is not part of the five-state federal study that will begin next year. KCP&L's foray will be on a more modest scale, but the utility expects to find out how to best recharge electric cars and resolve any problems before adding more charging stations.

The approach is being encouraged by the Clean Cities Coalition managed by the Metropolitan Energy Center in Kansas City. The center is using part of a federal grant to provide about $500,000 for the effort, said Kelly Gilbert, the Clean Cities coordinator.

KCP&L will contribute its expertise and the sites for the public chargers, which look similar to gasoline pumps with the electric cord and plug hanging on the side.

Most often, consumers will recharge their vehicles at homes, although an upgrade to a 240-volt line will be needed for a quicker charge.

But public chargers are also needed. Some restaurants and retailers have expressed interest in using free charges as a way to attract customers.

Locations for KCP&L's initial charging stations have not been picked, but those near major employers or at highly visible sites are among the candidates.

There will likely be a charging station in central Kansas City's Green Impact Zone, which is being targeted for sustainable energy projects such as home weatherization.

KCP&L also expects to find out the best way to pay for the electric charges at the public stations. Credit, debit or prepaid cards could be used, or the cost could be put on the monthly electric bills sent to the home.

The other gas

Natural gas is cheaper and cleaner-burning than gasoline, and the U.S. now produces more of it than we can use.

But it has struggled to gain acceptance as a transportation fuel. There is only one public natural-gas station in the area, operated by Kansas Gas Service in Overland Park.

"We call it the Rodney Dangerfield of alternative energy," said Sam Swearngin, fleet administrator for Kansas City.

But Swearngin loves the stuff and has spent the past 13 years building a fleet that uses the fuel. The city has pursued grants to acquire more than 220 natural-gas vehicles, including the 35 shuttle buses at Kansas City International Airport, 67 pickups, four large water line repair rigs, and 30 sedans used by restaurant and air-quality inspectors.

Use of the fuel has made a big difference at KCI. Aviation fleet manager Mitch Cox noted that when gasoline was $4 a gallon last year, the KCI buses were saving $86,000 a month in fuel costs. Even now, he is saving $40,000 a month.

Cox also remembers how the diesel buses in the mid-1990s poured a black fog of diesel soot into the canopies of KCI's terminals. Cox, whose son has asthma, thought to himself, "Wow, we're killing people here."

In the decade since the airport buses fully converted to natural gas, all that has changed. The noxious fumes have vanished.

At the Green Fleet Conference this week in Chicago, Kansas City was recognized for having one of the nation's top government alternative fuels fleets.

The City Council has just endorsed a $400,000 grant to replace at least 10 diesel-powered trucks with natural-gas trucks, mostly for the Solid Waste Division.

Swearngin is negotiating a contract with the Department of Energy for $4 million in stimulus money to acquire at least 150 more alternative- fuel vehicles, including 135 compressed natural-gas vehicles.

Bill George, local taxicab and airport shuttle mogul, said he might explore the use of compressed natural gas for his proposed tourism trolleys, but the fueling infrastructure must be available.

That has been a problem for the consumer market as well.

Gilbert, coordinator for Clean Cities, which is working on the corridor fueling stations plan, said that as more natural-gas fueling stations open, natural gas would become a more viable option for large private fleets such as Deffenbaugh's trash trucks and bus and taxicab companies.

Kansas City is also pursuing a way to make natural gas available to the public, and possibly to services like the proposed tourist trolleys. The city is awaiting responses by the end of this month from private companies interested in establishing a public compressed natural gas station at its fleet site at 19th Street and Brooklyn Avenue.

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COMPARING VEHICLES

Natural gas

Pros: Available now. Burn cleanest commercially available domestic fossil fuel, which is cheaper than regular gas. Ideal for large fleets.

Cons: More expensive than conventional vehicles. Need bigger gas tank, which takes up more trunk or truck bed space. Not many public fueling stations yet.

Electric

Pros: The industry is pushing these for consumers. Cleaner than vehicles that burn natural gas.

Cons: Still on the drawing boards and not widely available yet. More expensive than natural-gas vehicles, and batteries have limited range.

To reach Steve Everly, call 816-234-555 or send e-mail to severly@kcstar.com.

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Copyright (c) 2009, The Kansas City Star, Mo.

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