Ford says its employees want more electric cars, triples workplace charging stations

Ford conducted a study of its U.S. and Canadian employees and determined that they would be “choosing to purchase or lease electric vehicles if workplace charging is widely available.”

In response, they decided to double the number of U.S. workplace charging stations within a year and triple the number to 600 stations within the next 2 years.

Steve Henderson, Ford sustainability and vehicle environmental matters manager, and his team conducted the study on employee charging and driving behaviors by collecting data from January 2014 to September 2017.

Henderson commented on the findings:

“Work is the second most likely place people charge their electric vehicles. If we give people the ability to charge when they’re at work, we can significantly up the potential for mass market adoption of electrified vehicle technology.”

They presented the study at the 30th International Electric Vehicle Symposium and Exhibition in Stuttgart this week.

Here are some more findings from the study:

• The most popular times to charge electrified vehicle batteries are from 8 a.m. to 11 a.m. and from noon to 3 p.m.
• Since September 2014, Ford employees have charged their vehicles at work more than 165,000 times (~$59,000 at 0.078 cents per kilowatt-hour), resulting in a reduction in carbon emissions produced by approximately 600,000 pounds
• Through early August of this year, Ford’s charging station network has provided approximately 2 million miles of pure electric driving for its employees
• DTE Energy’s solar array at Ford World Headquarters currently produces far more electricity than is consumed by the charging stations

Electrek’s Take

It’s a great initiative that every automaker, or any business with parking spaces, really should follow – and several already have.

Electric vehicle charging is most efficient where cars are parked for long periods of time and aside from home, work is generally where drivers park for extended periods.

In Ford’s case though, I’m not sure that workplace charging is a significant factor slowing EV adoption among employees. If I had to bet, I’d say that Ford’s limited electric vehicle lineup is a way more important factor.

In term of all-electric vehicles, Ford only has the Focus Electric, which is a great example of a compliance EV, and instead of all-electric cars, the company bet on hybrids.

The automaker recently announced a shift one-third of internal combustion engine investments to electric cars in order to accelerate its EV programs and hopefully, it will soon result in more all-electric Ford vehicles.

Currently, the only new all-electric vehicle confirmed is a CUV with 300 miles of range planned for 2020.