Data
Microproduct Data GuideBeginner

NREL Alternative Fuel Stations

Alternative-fuel and EV charging station locations for building corridor maps and local charging finders.

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At a Glance

Difficulty
Beginner — comfortable for a first prototype
Size
Tiny · ≤0.05 GB
Formats
JSON, CSV, GeoJSON
Access
API
API Key
Required
Provider
National Renewable Energy Laboratory
Updates
Continuous
Last Verified
Aug 17, 2026
Source Type
Government Source
Data Terms
U.S. Government public data / federal copyright guidance
  • Python Syntax Checked

From Source to Product Signal

Test a Product Idea in Four Steps

The Alternative Fuel Stations API returns station locations that power the Alternative Fuels Data Center locator. Start with electric stations in one state and a small limit. A listed station can be temporarily unavailable, network-specific, or restricted to fleets.

1

Check the Setup

  • Python 3.10 or newer
  • A notebook environment such as Jupyter or Google Colab
  • A free NLR API key saved in the NREL_API_KEY environment variable
2

Access the Data

  1. 1.Register for a free key on the NLR Developer Network.
  2. 2.Save the key in the NREL_API_KEY environment variable.
  3. 3.Request a bounded list of electric stations for one state.
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3

Run the Python Example

Install the packages, then run the notebook cell.

python -m pip install pandas requests

import os
import pandas as pd
import requests

response = requests.get(
    "https://developer.nlr.gov/api/alt-fuel-stations/v1.json",
    params={
        "api_key": os.environ["NREL_API_KEY"],
        "fuel_type": "ELEC",
        "state": "CO",
        "status": "E",
        "limit": 20,
    },
    timeout=30,
)
response.raise_for_status()
stations = pd.DataFrame(response.json()["fuel_stations"])
stations["retrieved_at_utc"] = pd.Timestamp.now(tz="UTC")
print(stations[["station_name", "city", "latitude", "longitude", "ev_connector_types"]].head(20))
4

Test a Useful Signal

Map Open EV Chargers in One State

Test whether a bounded station extract can power a local charging finder.

  1. 01Keep open electric stations and explode connector types into a countable field.
  2. 02Map stations by city and flag missing coordinates or access hours.
  3. 03State that network status can change after the snapshot and that fleet-only sites are not public chargers.

Related Datasets

Dataset Details

National Renewable Energy Laboratory is a government source. Last verified 2026-08-17. Temporal coverage: continuously updated station inventory.

Geography

United States

Provider

National Renewable Energy Laboratory

Data Terms

U.S. Government public data / federal copyright guidance

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