The data in the Alternative Fueling Station Locator are gathered and verified through a variety of methods. The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) obtains information about new stations from trade media, Clean Cities coalitions, the Submit New Station form on the Station Locator website, and through collaborating with infrastructure equipment and fuel providers, original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), and industry groups.
Users submitting updates through the "Submit New Station" or "Report a Change" forms will receive an email confirmation of their submittal. NREL will verify station details before the station is added or updated in the Station Locator. The turnaround time for updates will depend on the completeness of the information provided, as well as the responsiveness of the station or point of contact.
NREL regularly compares its station data with those of other relevant trade organizations and websites. Differences in methodologies, data confirmation, and inclusion criteria may result in slight variations between NREL's database and those maintained by other organizations. NREL also collaborates with alternative fuel industry groups to identify discrepancies in data and develop data sharing processes and best practices. NREL and its data collection subcontractor are currently collaborating with natural gas, electric drive, biodiesel, ethanol, hydrogen, and propane industry groups to ensure best practices are being followed for identifying new stations and confirming station changes in the most-timely manner possible.
Most existing stations in the database are contacted at least once a year on an established schedule to verify they are still operational and providing the fuel specified. Based on an established data collection schedule, the database is updated on an ongoing basis. Stations that are no longer operational or no longer provide alternative fuel are removed from the database as they are identified.
Public, non-networked electric vehicle (EV) charging stations are proactively verified every other year, with half of the EV charging stations verified each year. This adjustment is to accommodate the growing number of EV charging stations in the Station Locator. NREL will continue to make updates to any station record if changes are reported.
Each point on the map is counted as one station in the station count. A station appears as one point on the map, regardless of the number of fuel dispensers or electric vehicle supply equipment (EVSE) ports at that location. Station addresses are geocoded and mapped using an automatic geocoding application. The geocoding application returns the most accurate location based on the provided address. Station locations may also be provided by external sources (e.g., station operators) and/or verified in a geographic information system (GIS) tool. This information is considered highly accurate, and these coordinates override any information generated using the geocoding application.
- Private Stations
The Station Locator defaults to searching only for public stations. To include private stations in the search, use the Station button on the "Advanced Filters" tab.
Stations with an access listing of "Private - Fleet customers only" may allow other entities to fuel through a business-to-business arrangement. For more information, fleet customers should refer to the information listed in the details section for that station and contact the station directly.
The Station Locator includes information on private fleet fueling stations (e.g., transit bus fueling facilities, other medium- and heavy-duty fueling and charging infrastructure), workplace charging stations, and multi-family housing charging stations. Note that information on these stations is not always published online or in the data download but may be tracked only in the backend Station Locator database. Information tracked only in the backend database may be provided by request to the webmaster listed in the "More Information" section below.
- Public Restricted Access Stations
Stations that are reserved for patrons of a business, such as guests of a hotel, visitors of a museum, or customers of a retail store, are included in the Station Locator and are listed as public. These stations appear on the Station Locator by default, as do all public stations.
Stations with restricted access will include relevant information about who may access the station and when the station may be open to the broader public on the station details page. This information is also available in the data download. See the "Download Data" section below to download datasets from the Station Locator.
- Planned and Temporarily Unavailable Stations
NREL collects and publishes data on planned station locations, particularly those that are sited and have begun the installation process. In addition, the Station Locator includes stations that are temporarily out of service or offline with plans to open again in the future. To include planned and temporarily unavailable stations in the search results, use the "Advanced Filters" tab.
- Biodiesel Stations
The Station Locator only includes stations offering biodiesel blends of 20% (B20) and above for a certain period of time during the year. The available blends at each station location are displayed when the station location is selected.
- EV Charging Stations
Each point on the map is counted as one station in the station count. The number of EVSE ports and types of connectors available at each station location are displayed in the details page for each station location. Users may search by charger types, connectors, and networks using the Fuel button on the "Advanced Filters" tab.
NREL is in the process of transitioning EV charging station counting logic to align with the hierarchy defined in the Open Charge Point Interface (OCPI) protocol: station location, EVSE port, and connector. With this transition, NREL is updating the number of EVSE ports (formerly called charging outlets) in the Stations Locator, which represents the number of vehicles that can charge simultaneously at a station location. The Station Locator also identifies the available connector types. Both the total number of station locations and EVSE ports appear in the EV charging search results on the "Advanced Filters" tab.
The Station Locator imports Blink, ChargePoint, Electrify America, EV Connect, EVgo, FLO, OpConnect, Rivian, SemaConnect, Shell Recharge (formerly Greenlots), and Webasto networked station data directly from these networks on a daily basis. Please note there may be variations in the formatting of API stations from other alternative fuels in the Station Locator. Also note, NREL cannot edit station information for the networks listed above. To suggest edits to these stations, please contact the charging network directly with the recommended changes. For network contact information, please contact the webmaster listed in the "More Information" section below.
As the above networks transition to the OCPI protocol, NREL works with each to integrate their OCPI-based API. This transition may result in increases to station counts because of the way that station data are shared under the protocol; one station may be split out into several new stations to represent different physical locations of EV chargers at one address (e.g., opposite sides of one parking lot). While the new stations may share the same street address, they may have different coordinates.
The Station Locator also includes data for the following networks: AmpUp, ChargeLab, EV Charging Solutions, evGateway, EV Range, Francis Energy, FPL EVolution, Livingston Energy Group, Powerflex, SWTCH Energy, Tesla Supercharger, Tesla Destination, Universal EV, Volta, and ZEF Energy. Data on these networks are updated regularly throughout the year, and new networks are added to the Station Locator as they are identified.
To see an analysis of the growth of EVSE ports in the Station Locator over time, visit the Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure Trends page.
Please Note: Residential EV charging locations and "wall outlets" not designated for vehicle charging are not included in the Station Locator, but workplace charging locations are.
- Ethanol (E85) Stations
The Station Locator includes stations offering high-level ethanol-gasoline blends (E85). Users may limit their search to E85 stations offering mid-level blends, such as E30, by using the Fuel button on the "Advanced Filters" tab.
- Propane (Liquefied Petroleum Gas, LPG) Stations
Because many public propane stations serve customers other than drivers and fleets, NREL collaborated with propane industry partners to establish and represent the differences. Each public propane station is designated as a "primary" or "secondary" service type, with both types able to fuel propane vehicles. However, locations with a "primary" designation offer vehicle-specific fueling capabilities.
Public locations with the "primary" designation must be staffed during regular business hours and must not require drivers to call ahead in order to fuel. Primary stations must also accept credit cards or fleet cards as a payment type. To be considered "primary," the station must be able to fuel vehicles at a rate of 8-12 gallons per minute or faster, or at a rate similar to filling a gasoline vehicle.
Service designations are available in the details page for each public station. The Station Locator defaults to showing only public "primary" stations. Users may expand their search to include all propane stations by using the "Include stations with limited vehicle fueling" checkbox after choosing propane as a fuel or select this same option in the "Advanced Filters" tab.
Note that several states, including Alabama, Indiana, Kansas, Missouri, and Oklahoma, require or allow in-state propane vehicles to obtain a decal in lieu of paying state fuel taxes at the pump. Out-of-state vehicles may still be subject to taxes at the pump. Determinations about price differential are made assuming that the vehicle has an in-state decal. For more information about state decals and similar laws and regulations, visit the AFDC Laws & Incentives database.
- Natural Gas Stations
Some compressed and liquefied natural gas stations are not able to fuel larger vehicles due to access limitations, such as a low canopy, insufficient parking adjacent to the pump, or limited space to maneuver. Natural gas station details include vehicle accessibility information, specifically the vehicle classes that can physically access the fueling infrastructure. Please note, this field does not take into account station capacity, throughput, or other considerations. Options include:
- Accommodates passenger vehicles only (Class 1-2).
- Accommodates medium-duty vehicles (Class 3-5).
- Accommodates heavy-duty vehicles (Class 6-8).
- Accommodates all vehicle sizes and classes.
Compressed natural gas stations also list fill type and fill pressure in the details page. These fields are also searchable using the Fuel button on the "Advanced Filters" tab.
- Hydrogen Stations
Fuel cell electric vehicle drivers have access to hydrogen stations in certain areas of the country. Because this technology is in the early commercialization stages, the status of hydrogen fueling stations may change more frequently than other fuel types. To allow users to monitor station status more closely, hydrogen stations now indicate whether or not they have reduced fueling capacity.
NREL collaborated with industry groups to revisit the definition of public hydrogen stations and refined the Station Locator data to differentiate between stations that are only available to a certain subset of customers (e.g., require an access card, PIN, or training) and those that are considered retail locations (e.g., accept payment at the point of sale). Access designations are available in the details page for each public station. The Station Locator defaults to showing only public retail stations. Users may expand their search to include all public hydrogen stations by selecting the "Include non-retail stations" checkbox.
- Renewable Diesel
The Station Locator team began tracking renewable diesel stations in 2022 to publish in the Station Locator starting in 2023. The Station Locator only includes stations offering renewable diesel blends of 20% (R20) and above for a certain period of time during the year. The available blends at each station location are displayed when the station location is selected. Submissions of these stations are welcome and may be shared using the "Submit New Station" form.
Biodiesel
CNG
Electric
Ethanol
Hydrogen
LNG
Propane
Renewable Diesel
