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As part of an executive order signed last December, federal agencies are beginning to electrify their vehicle fleets. All federal agency light-duty vehicles—sedans, pickups, and vans—must be zero-emissions by 2027. According to Outside of OnlineThe United States Forest Service (USFS) is starting its EV switch by testing three Ford F-150 Lightning pickups, in three different parks across the country.
The USFS has more than 17,000 vehicles in its fleet, so it has a long way to go to be fully electrified. But it has to start somewhere and the three F-150 Lightnings will be the test bed for whether EVs can handle the needs of the USFS.
They start in three different national forests: Allegheny National Forest in Pennsylvania, Huron-Manistee National Forest in Michigan, and White Mountain National Forest on the Maine/New Hampshire border. Those three parks were particularly good tests for the F-150 Lightings, thanks to their off-road terrain and harsh weather conditions, particularly in the White Mountains.
While the F-150 Lightning has no issues with terrain and weather, as it has proven to be an incredibly capable pickup, its battery is a different story. What the USFS wanted to test was whether its 230-mile range and charging capabilities would last. There are longer-range versions of the Lightning, with up to 320 miles of range, but the only Lightning model available through the Government Services Administration, which handles federal fleet acquisitions, is the base model. The smallest of the three aforementioned national parks is Allegheny, at just over 800 square miles, so base Lightning’s 230 miles can be difficult, depending on its workload.
The F-150 Lightning is capable of charging its battery from 15-80 percent in 45 minutes from a DC fast charger. However, USFS forests are now equipped with only 240-volt AC chargers, which are slower.
The USFS can learn a lot about the viability of EVs from these three F-150 Lightning fleet trucks. There are over 8,700 light trucks in the USFS fleet and if these Lightnings do well, we will start to see more and more standard trucks switch to Lightnings, or other electric trucks in the future.
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