More Ford employees will soon be able to drive to work entirely on electricity, thanks to a new workplace charging network being installed at nearly every Ford facility in the U.S. and Canada.
Ford plans to install electric vehicle charging stations at more than 50 of its company offices, product development campuses and manufacturing facilities. Installation will begin later this year and roll out across company facilities throughout 2014.
“Ford’s commitment to sustainability extends beyond our fuel-efficient vehicles to include our daily workplace. We know that a growing electrified vehicle infrastructure is key to making plug-in vehicles a viable option for more consumers. Ford is committed to doing our part to help grow that infrastructure.”
Said Mike Tinskey, Ford global director of Vehicle Electrification and Infrastructure.
Ford employees will be able to charge the all-electric Focus Electric, as well as Ford’s two plug-in hybrids – the Fusion Energi and C-MAX Energi – at the charge stations. The service will initially be free to employees for the first four hours. Ford estimates it will cost the company about 50 cents to fully charge a vehicle, saving employees up to $2 (£1.25) in fuel each day.
Ford’s workplace EV chargers are different from competitor programs in that they will be networked together. As a result, the company will be able to gather additional information on electrified vehicle use, such as the number of hours vehicles are charging and the amount of CO2 reduced.
Ford already has more than 1,700 charging stations at Ford dealerships and company facilities in North America. The new workplace chargers will add approximately 200 more.
Throughout the U.S. and Canada, the number of charge stations – both public and residential – is growing rapidly. In 2009, there were 3,000 known public charge stations. Today, there are more than 20,000.
30 million electric miles
Ford Fusion Energi and C-MAX Energi drivers typically make three of their four daily trips in all-electric mode, based on data from Ford’s MyFord Mobile app. In fact, every 10 days, Ford customers drive approximately 1 million miles on electricity alone. In total, Ford customers now have logged 30 million all-electric miles driving the full range of plug-in vehicles, saving more than 1.2 million kilograms of CO2.
By adding charging possibilities during the working day, at the workplace, it is likely Ford employees will be able to accomplish all of their work week trips without using fuel at all, in all electric mode only.
Source; Ford USA
