Ford Pro offers EV suitability insights, charging incentive and announces mobile service growth

Ford has introduced new tools and incentives that simplify—or encourage—the adoption of electric vehicles within fleets. Fleets interested in adopting EVs in some or part of their operations should first decide which routes to place them, and Ford’s new ICE-to-EVG comparison tool allows fleets to do just that.

Once the fleet has decided to adopt an EV, the next step is to develop charging infrastructure, which Ford assists with from start to finish—and now, helps fleets pay for.

Finally, the brand announced increased use of its mobile vehicle service offering, highlighting year-over-year growth and customer interest.

EV-Switch Assist

Fleets hear “that electric trucks and vans can help save on fuel costs, energy, maintenance, and downtime,” Nathan McDonald, EV strategy and brand manager at Ford Pro, told FleetOwner. “But they’ve not had a way to assess their fleet’s readiness for electric vehicles.”

Until now.

Fleets with Ford vehicles can now see which routes are best suited for electrification through Ford Pro’s tool, the E-Switch Assist.

The E-Switch Assist analyzes data from gas- and diesel-powered vehicles connected to Ford Pro telematics to compare their energy consumption with the estimated energy needs of a similar electric vehicle. Ford Pro already uses this tool in consultations, but the brand is now putting the insights in the hands of the fleet.

“Smart tools informed by data like E-Switch Assist are opening up many new conversations with our commercial customers, large and small, about EV readiness; we’re already using E-Switch Assist regularly in consultations to help organizations determine if electric trucks and vans are right for them,” McDonald said in a release. “The importance of these tools and technologies goes beyond selling a customer a new vehicle—it changes mindsets about whether electric vehicles will work for their business while potentially saving them time and money.” 

To ensure an accurate comparison between powertrains, the E-Switch Assist analyzes data such as “distance driven, cargo load, vehicle efficiency, terrain, driver-specific behavior, external climate, and cabin heating load,” Ford stated in a press release. It also accounts for the estimated time necessary to charge individual vehicles as well as multiple vehicles per day.

Of the 38,000 vehicles Ford Pro has analyzed with E-Switch Assist, more than half (53%) are suitable for electrification, the brand said in a release. If the data determines a route is ripe for electrification, the Ford Pro suite can help streamline the electrification process.

But McDonald assures that, “if E-Switch Assist finds a customer’s use case isn’t ideal to make the switch, we let them know that too.”

Charging strategy development

Ford Pro aids fleets in developing an EV “charging strategy.” This includes a mix of on-site depot charging, charging at drivers’ homes, and charging across the nation with Ford’s Blue Oval Charging Network, which includes more than 88,000 charging stations.

Ford helps facilitate the building of depot charging infrastructure and offers chargers, both AC and DC, for fleets to purchase. Fleet managers can access charger data through the Ford Pro software dashboard, which provides management for charging both Ford and non-Ford vehicles.

Ford also recently announced software that allows fleets to install and manage charging at their drivers' homes from the same dashboard they use to manage depot charging. Ford will facilitate the charger installation, and its chargers’ embedded software allows fleet managers to facilitate charging schedules, assign charger access, and even calculate how much to pay employees for the energy used.

Another recently announced perk for Ford Pro Commercial customers is the eligibility for a $2,000 cash incentive that fleets can apply toward charging costs associated with integrating an EV into their fleet. This $2,000 can be used to install charging at an employee’s home, the fleet depot, or other workplace charging solutions.

Mobile service growth

Ford also announced the growth of its mobile service, which is highlighted in Ford’s third-quarter earnings.

“Repair orders fulfilled by the company’s fleet of about 2,400 mobile service vehicles grew by 70%, with nearly 1-in-10 Ford Pro repair orders now completed by a mobile service vehicle,” the company announced in a statement.

Mobile service is a growing trend among fleets across the country. Jim Xintaris, general manager of a heavy-duty truck dealership in Michigan, believes mobile repair is “the future” of vehicle servicing.

“You can't expect people to bring that truck in,” Xintaris said at a recent industry conference. “You have to offer pick-up and drop-off service. ... The big dealer groups that have tested and implemented that are going ‘gangbusters’ with it.”

One reason for the growing trend in mobile service could be attributed to a vehicle’s connectivity, Ford stated. Telematics and vehicle performance data allows technicians to know the problem before they arrive, meaning they can come prepared to “address and remedy any issues.” This improves the efficiency of Ford's service offerings, but it also decreases vehicle downtime.