EV Update
By Patrick Soukup
As you may know, Central Electric owns a 2022 Ford F-150 Lightning electric vehicle (EV) and an electric Polaris Ranger Kinetic side-by-side. Your cooperative is studying EVs and the energy-related impacts of charging at home and on the farm. We have owned the pickup for about a year now, and I want to share some things that we have learned along the way.
We were excited to take ownership of a Ford Lightning in April 2023 so we could start to learn how EVs may affect the demand for electric power. A couple of months after we took ownership of the pickup, it collided with a deer on the way to the Miner County District Meeting in June. Thankfully, no employees were seriously injured in the accident. The vehicle was still drivable but had many dents and broken pieces.
Following the accident, it took extra time for employees at the body shop to learn how to work on an EV and the different precautions involving the batteries during the finishing stages.
After four months in the body shop, the repairs were mostly complete and we got the pickup back in November. Because of the length of time it took to repair, employees may have been afraid to drive it and cause any new damage that would put it back out of commission. However, those fears would eventually subside and it started getting more usage in January as it made the rounds to the outposts in Kimball, Wessington Springs, Plankinton and Howard. Most of our linemen now have some experience driving the Ford Lightning.
COLD WEATHER & RANGE:
During a recent cold stretch, the electric pickup and electric side-by-side UTV sat outside for three nights in the -20 degree weather. When I came back on Monday, it was still very cold outside. Both vehicles started easily and warmed up very quickly. When I said quick, they were warm and ready to go within about five minutes.
As expected, the pickup’s estimated range during the winter is about half of the summer range. That’s why we selected a model with an extended-range battery. During the summer months, the maximum range is estimated at 320 miles. The estimated range drops to about 162 miles in cold weather.
CHARGING & FUEL COST COMPARISON:
We have primarily been using a regular 120-volt outlet to charge the EV, but work is underway to install a faster after-market Ford charging system. In the future, we will likely see members installing similar charging systems at their homes and farms, so this will be an important component as we study the impacts of EV charging.
A key metric that is important to share is the cost of driving the pickup. Like most EVs, the vast majority of charging is done “at home” in the Mitchell shop. The cost to charge is approximately 12 cents per kilowatt hour. So far, that has added up to roughly 11.6 cents per mile to recharge in the winter and 5.8 cents per mile to recharge in the summer for an overall average of about 8.7 cents per mile.
By comparison, a gas-powered pickup that averages 15 miles per gallon costs 21.99 cents per mile in fuel costs if gas is $3.299 per gallon. A gas-powered car that gets 25 miles per gallon costs 13.2 cents to operate when gas is $3.299 per gallon.
According to the U.S. Department of Transportation Federal Highway Administration, the average South Dakotan drives approximately 15,000 miles per year.
Switching from a pickup that gets 15 miles per gallon to a Ford Lightning EV could save the average driver $1994 per year in fuel costs. Switching from a car that gets 25 miles to the gallon to a Ford Lightning EV could save the average driver $674 per year. That assumes gas is $3.299 per gallon and all EV charging is done at 12 cents per kilowatt hour. Public charging will generally cost more than charging at home.
This is just a snapshot of estimated fuel cost savings when comparing a gas-powered vehicle to the Ford Lightning. This analysis does not factor in additional costs of owning a gas-powered vehicle such as oil changes and other regular maintenance that often isn’t required on an EV.
If you’d like to see the Ford F-150 Lightning, it will be on display at the upcoming district meetings in May and June. The full district meeting schedule is available here: https://centralec.coop/annual-district-meetings.
We have learned a great deal over the past year, and there is still more to learn regarding EVs and charging. We will continue to share our EV experiences going forward.