Commonwealth Edison (ComEd) recently sent 300 mutual assistance crew members from Chicago to the Philadelphia and Baltimore regions to help restore power after a series of severe storms.

As part of this effort, ComEd Manager of Regional Operations Scott Over chose to drive his company’s all-electric vehicle (EV) from Chicago to Philadelphia and back to provide mutual assistance. During the more than 1,500-mile trip, Over saw more than $400 in net savings from charging versus fueling and made nearly the same number of stops to power his EV as combustion engine trucks did to refuel.

“The electric truck performed great throughout the duration of the trip,” said Over. “Though the world of EVs can seem daunting at first, technology has come such a long way in making user experiences simple and seamless. In my trip, the car’s app automatically calculated its range and charted the nearest chargers along my route, and another app helped locate public and free charging stations.”

ComEd is working to both support EV adoption in its customer base and to electrify its own fleet of vehicles. The company has begun piloting new all-electric fleet trucks, like the one Over drove to Philadelphia, with a mix of nearly 1,000 all-electric, plug-in hybrid, or idle-mitigation vehicles. The company also is upgrading its facilities by adding more than 500 EV charging stations—part of its plan for EVs to account for 30 percent of its fleet vehicles by 2025 and 50 percent by 2030.

ComEd also has launched the EV Ambassador Program to share more information about EVs with its employees. The ambassador program, led by the ComEd fleet operations team, trains staff in the new electric fleet offerings so more employees feel comfortable and confident taking EVs out on the job.

Tags : Clean Energy, All