As we celebrate National Drive Electric Week, Sept. 26 to Oct. 4, we join a nationwide celebration to raise awareness of the benefits of driving an electric vehicle (EV). As EVs become more popular, manufacturers are rolling out new models that are fun to drive, require less maintenance, are better for the environment and offer battery capacity to go longer distances, making range anxiety a thing of the past.
Tampa Electric has been promoting EV technology since 2009 and is excited to share the following investments that will increase the number of EVs in our green fleet and will help other fleet operators take full advantage of this promising technology.
- Florida’s first Integrated Renewable Energy System – Tampa Electric broke ground in September to build a “solar canopy” system that will consist of three solar arrays with a total generating capacity of 800 kilowatts – enough solar energy to power more than 125 homes. It will include battery storage capable of holding 1,000 kilowatt-hours of energy from the sun and several charging stations to support electric vehicle (EV) and industrial truck battery charging. “The solar canopy will become a fully functional research showpiece that we can invite other fleet operators from across the state to visit,” said Carlos Aldazabal, director of Transmission & Shared Services. Collectively, the three arrays will generate enough solar power to charge the company’s EVs, battery bucket trucks and the battery storage system. The main purpose of the pilot project is to evaluate how we can use solar energy and battery storage, along with our fleet of EVs to help increase the supply of electricity during the time of day when demand for electricity is high.
- Adding 14 all-electric Chevy Bolts – Tampa Electric just added 14 new Chevy Bolts (photo shows a Chevy Bolt) that offer 240-miles range to its green fleet. These will replace our aging fleet of Chevy Volts and Nissan LEAFs. The increased range of these newer models allow for greater flexibility in how we can utilize all-electric vehicles.
- Adding 12 light-duty battery bucket trucks – Tampa Electric will add 12 bucket trucks with Jobsite Energy Management System (JEMS) advanced battery technology in the first quarter of 2021. The JEMS technology eliminates the need for the truck’s diesel engines to elevate the bucket as well as provides battery powered cabin cooling. Instead, each truck’s 48-volt battery system produces more than enough power to elevate the bucket and cool the trucks. This reduces unwelcome noise and reduces emissions.
We expect even more drivers to hit the roads in EVs in the coming years. The Edison Electric Institute (EEI) forecasts the sales of EVs will exceed 3.5 million vehicles per year in 2030. EEI also projects that the total number of EVs on the road in the same year will reach nearly 19 million, or about 7 percent of the total number of vehicles on the road at that time.
Purchase data shows that EV adoption is accelerating in Florida. In total, Floridians have purchased over 60,000 EVs. As of June of 2020, there were nearly 13,000 registered EVs in the six-county Tampa Bay region, representing more than 20 percent of all EVs in the state. We are excited about this technology and will continue to invest in areas that will benefit the company, our customers and the communities we serve.
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