Southern Company has partnered with Ford Pro on a 6-month pilot to explore and expand the role of electric vehicles (EVs) within fleet operations.
The pilot aims to incorporate the expertise of both companies to address barriers in EV adoption, demonstrate the transformative potential of EV fleets in supporting the resilience of the electric grid for both customers and company operations.
The pilot will involve more than 200 F-150 Lightning trucks within the Southern Company system's fleet of company vehicles. The pilot will not only employ pricing signals and demand response to evaluate efficient charging within a fleet environment but also utilize established charging depots and more than 150 chargers with Ford Pro charging software.
By integrating Ford Pro's VG1 charging software into the Southern Company system's fleet vehicles, the companies will test the role of dynamic rates and demand response capabilities to balance energy loads and create more resilient grid operations. This approach will allow Southern Company and Ford Pro to leverage insights from program data and user feedback to develop a roadmap for creating a flexible and scalable model helping fleets to adopt EVs with efficient energy and load management, informs future fleet EV charging programs, and addresses key barriers to EV adoption, including technical and commercial challenges, fleet management, and cost-effectiveness.
Southern Company and its subsidiaries will be able to support commercial and industrial customers by understanding fleet charging behavior, as they transition their own fleets to EVs. The collaboration is expected to deliver actionable insights by integrating connected vehicle data from Ford Pro Intelligence with charging data from Ford Pro Charging software, providing benefits and opportunities for EVs in fleet operations.
Additionally, the pilot will explore the use of software to automate charging schedules enabling customers to charge at times that minimize their electricity costs and reduce strain on the electric grid.
The partnership not only supports immediate requirements for fleet and grid performance but also leads the way for next-generation EV fleet programs to enhance value to customers and energy system. Southern Company is exploring one of the clean transportation solutions for environmentally responsible fleet transition, through the collaboration.
