Ford Pro will collaborate with global sustainability leaders Ecolab to speed up the electrification of its vehicle fleet, with a goal of transitioning to a 100% fully electric commercial fleet by 2030.
Ecolab has worked with Ford to reduce and reuse water in Ford’s manufacturing plants since 1925, and the two companies’ joint release celebrates that nearly century of collaboration.
Ecolab’s journey towards 100% fleet electrification will begin in California with the conversion of its sales and service fleet to EVs. A switch that should be complete by 2025. To that end, Ecolab will purchase and deploy more than 1,000 Ford F-150 Lightning Pro trucks and Mustang Mach-E crossovers, creating what is anticipated to be the largest all-electric commercial vehicle fleet in California.
“Ecolab’s history is rich with collaboration between like-minded companies committed to sustainable business growth,” said Christophe Beck, chairman and CEO of Ecolab. “Ford and Ecolab have worked together for nearly a century, most recently to help conserve water and energy while improving business performance.This next phase of our relationship will help us move quickly and at scalewith the goal of improving profits through renewable energy and EV solutions for the betterment of our employees, business, and the environment.”
Major business and environmental benefits
In going electric, Ecolab estimates that it can lower overall costs, with internal financial models forecasting a lower total cost of ownership over the life of the vehicles compared to ICE vehicles. Ecolab can potentially save roughly 50% in annual fuel costs per 2023 F-150 Lightning Pro truck, a savings of approximately $1,400 in fuel per vehicle each year. Once vehicles are deployed, Ecolab plans to use Ford Pro productivity software and service solutions to manage and maintain its California fleet.
Ford Pro productivity software and service solutions have been shown to help optimize fleet operations. In a Ford Pro survey of Sonoma County Winegrowers, respondents estimated that, on average, they could reduce their idling hours by 49%, their time spent tracking maintenance schedules by 37% and their time spent tracking fuel usage by 58% with a solution like Ford Pro Telematics. In the same survey, Sonoma County Winegrowers estimated they could reduce their service downtime by about 20% using Mobile Service.
Official ford/ecolab press release
Ford Pro’s full suite of charging and telematics software will enable Ecolab’s fleet managers to maximize vehicle performance and fleet productivity while monitoring each vehicle battery’s state of charge and collecting data that can be analyzed for further efficiency gains down the road.
Ecolab is calling its move to EVs a crucial step in the company’s efforts to achieve net-zero emissions globally by 2050.
Electrek’s Take
Ford dealers have been complaining – loudly – about the electric Lightning and Mach-E models building up on dealer lots. Some of that probably has to do with Ford’s own CEO announcing that next year’s models would be NACS compatible and sprinkling some Osborne-effect onto the existing lineup, and some of it has to do with Ford’s own dealers spending the last few years marking up EVs to the point that no one wants to do business with them anymore. Either way, this will take more of Ford’s EVs off lots and put them into the hands of customers – and that’s good for everyone.
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