Government Fleet, Jan/Feb 2021

Located in oil and gas country Fort Worth helps illustrate the remaining challenges many fleet managers face in finding enough charging stations Means uses one electric vehicle a six year old Ford Focus While the city runs about 40 propane fueled Ford F 150 pick up trucks forklifts lawn equipment and five gas electric hybrids its waiting to buy more EVs The biggest piece for us is infrastructure charging Means says The city leadership has a long range plan for charging stations but several questions remain It comes back to where do we put the stations On city property Through a third party Will demand in the private sector match the public sector structure timeline in place Buying and installing chargers can take longer than buying the vehicle and having it delivered In building a charging network fleet staff should determine exact locations at which buildings and the power needs to support it in tandem with everyone else involved with the process In choosing EVs fleet managers should determine the number of charging stations that will be available and the level of the chargers Hineson says Know the charge times per vehicle so you can allocate charging incorporate future growth and determine end goals Are you making proper investments and are you getting smart chargers to save time throughout the process Vehicle operators also should plan routes based on vehicle range charge times and types of charging stations Hineson says The infrastructure can include mobile and or solar powered charger units for vehicles driven to temporary construction or work sites or to rented real estate The authority for example has two mobile chargers in Jersey City and Staten Island The Bolts offer more range than new users expect and can regenerate some battery power through braking Hineson says The authority runs 160 charging ports across its facilities Since acquiring the EVs the fleet department has found EV drivers have enough range among their destinations and charging stations Hineson says even if a vehicles range drops to 50 miles Public fleet EV buyers also should make sure new EVs arrive at the same time charging stations open so neither the stations nor vehicles sit idle Hineson says That requires departments and stakeholders to work together on timelines The City of Sacramento relies on its own internal electrical charging infrastructure at secure government facilities So far the Level 2 chargers have proven adequate with vehicles sharing charging stations on alternate days Most employees dont travel more than 60 miles per day With the 230 mile range Bolt were able to stick with Level 2 chargers Stevens says The City of Durham fleet department charges its Bolts at its maintenance garage where it schedules them among two Level 2 charging stations that can each handle two vehicles at a time One charge on an empty battery takes about 10 hours There are a few chargers in the city but they are first come first served Clark says You dont want to buy the cars and not have a place to charge them You need to know what an EV is used for how far its driven daily and then figure out the chargers Despite the typical hurdles in adapting to EVs Clark believes the vehicles will increase in appeal and secure their future in government fleets The city is reviewing possible locations for more stations Our biggest plan now is to look at each facility see what needs to be done how much to budget and when the work can be done In addition to setting up enough transformers and chargers the infrastructure has many moving parts in the process You have to do a full assessment and these take time Clark says SOURCES Joe Clark fleet management director City of Durham N C E Mail joe clark@ durhamnc gov James Hineson general maintenance supervisor Central Automotive Division of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey E Mail press@ panynj gov Chris Means assistant director of property management fleet City of Fort Worth Texas E Mail Chris Means@ fortworthtexas gov Kevin Niranjan supervisor of automotive engineers Central Automotive Division of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey E Mail press@ panynj gov Mark Stevens fleet manager City of Sacramento Calif E Mail MStevens@ cityofsacramento org Mark Stevens fleet manager for the City of Sacramento Calif says since EVs dont have engines and conventional transmissions they require fewer moving parts and save fleet operations money by only needing routine parts such as tires and wiper blades during the first five years under the warranty PHOTO MARK STEVENS 18 GOVERNMENT FLEET COM JANUARY FEBRUARY 2021 ELECTRIC VEHICLES