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Projects Updates for F&S Sustainable Fleet Plan

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  1. Vehicle Organization and Department Outreach

    Associated Project(s): 
    Fleet Replacement Plans
    F&S Sustainable Fleet Plan

    Shawn Patterson gathered a current vehicle and equipment record from Facilities and Services. Sarthak Prasad, Olivia Messerges, and Shawn Patterson met on December 21, 2023 and January 18, 2024 to discuss the vehicle records. Olivia identified departments with five or more vehicles and Sarthak will draft an email to departments requesting that they appoint a fleet administrator. See the attached meeting notes, excel file, and summary of the excel file. 

    Attached Files: 

  4. Ford Lightning allotted to Abbott Power Plant and EV charging station installed

    Associated Project(s): 
    F&S Sustainable Fleet Plan
    Decrease Emissions from UI Fleet
    Use Electric Vehicles (EV)
    Increase use of EVs and other Alternative Service Vehicles

    Abbott Power Plant are the recipients of one the new Ford F150 Lightning Electric Trucks.

    There is a charging station in the alley between the plant addition and scrubber where the vehicle can be parked and charged (see photo below). The plug on the truck is on the side in front of the driver side door.

    The key for the new truck is in the control room at Abbott. The key is a FOB that must be in the vehicle to start it. Similar to other new vehicles, the truck is started when the FOB is in the vehicle with you, you press the brake, and then hit the start button. Since it is electric you of course will not hear the motor engage and start, but the car will “come to life” with the dashboard coming on and displaying. The vehicle can now be put into gear and driven.

    NOTE, the vehicle comes equipped with “engine braking” engaged. So, when you take your foot off the accelerator, the electric motor will “reserve” (turn into a generator) and start slowing down the vehicle (and at the same time charge up the batteries).

    Please be careful when driving the truck for the first time and take some time to get accustomed to how it works.

    Attached Files: 

  5. Insider article on 9/21/22: Ahead of the Curve and All Electric

    Associated Project(s): 
    Use Electric Vehicles (EV)
    F&S Sustainable Fleet Plan
    Decrease Emissions from UI Fleet
    Increase use of EVs and other Alternative Service Vehicles

    F&S purchased two all electric Ford F-150 Lightning trucks in spring 2022. Read the Insider article about this here: https://fs.web.illinois.edu/Insider/2022/09/21/ahead-of-the-curve-and-al...

    Attached Files: 

  6. Two 100% all electric 2022 Ford F-150 Lightning trucks purchased for F&S fleet

    Associated Project(s): 
    F&S Sustainable Fleet Plan
    Decrease Emissions from UI Fleet
    Use Electric Vehicles (EV)
    Increase use of EVs and other Alternative Service Vehicles

    From: Varney, Peter W
    Sent: Tuesday, April 19, 2022 12:38 PM
    To: FandS Executive Management Team ; Gordon, Malikah Asrayyah ; Breitwieser, Steven
    Cc: Patterson, Shawn L ; Franzen, Neil
    Subject: Ford Lightnings for F&S

    As mentioned this morning, I have been able to secure two of the brand new 2022 Ford F-150 Lightning for F&S. These are all-electric crew cab pickup trucks with a ~200 mile range. The vehicles are equipped with a 9.6kW power system including multiple 120V and a single 240V outlet. Cargo payload is only about 1,600# or 2/3 of a standard F-150.

    These vehicles should allow for my team to gain familiarity with all-electric vehicles in our fleet as well as campus visibility regarding F&S’ commitment to sustainable fleet technology. I believe one of the vehicles would be a good fit in my Transportation Shop but I’m open to suggestions for the second truck. ETA will be in the June/July timeframe.

    Malikah – I want your team to be aware for any story/messaging opportunities. I also think we can use some special signage or wrap on the vehicle exterior.

    Pete W Varney
    DIRECTOR
    Transportation & Building Services
    Facilities & Services
    University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

  9. Update from Ben McCall

    Associated Project(s): 
    Transportation iCAP Team
    Parking Master Plan
    F&S Sustainable Fleet Plan
    Install Public Use Electric Vehicle (EV) Charging Stations
    Support the MTD Bus System

    Dear Transportation SWATeam,  [Sorry for the barrage of emails...this is the last one for this morning!]

    I met with Michelle Wahl from Parking late last week, and she had some very useful comments on the iCAP draft that I thought I should share with you:

    1) She mentioned that in years past, she used to receive "idling reports" on her vehicles, which must have been equipped with some sort of system that tracked when the vehicles were idling.  This raised the question of whether such technology could be deployed widely on our fleet, rather than focusing only on "class 6 and above trucks" (neither of us knew exactly what that means).

    2) She was concerned about the financial aspects of providing additional opportunities for people to purchase less than full-time parking privileges in lots with wait lists...this is probably something that deserves further discussion.  If Parking allows someone to drop their full-time parking pass for a particular lot and instead purchase less than full-time for the same spot, their revenue will decrease.  This is concerning because Parking is legally required to be self-supporting -- they cannot receive any subsidy from campus, nor can they make a profit.

    3) She recommended adding a recommendation that parking rates be increased to provide a dis-incentive for single-occupancy vehicle use. 

    This would also be essential if the number of parking permits sold were to decrease, as Parking's costs are essentially fixed. Raising rates would be a challenge because they are subject to collective bargaining, but it has been successfully done on other campuses (including UIC). 

    Having an explicit call for this in the iCAP might help provide ammunition for such efforts.

    4) She recommended some investigation of the subsidy that Parking currently provides to MTD.  At present, Parking pays over $500K per year for this, ostensibly to support the buses that run to the "shuttle lot" (E-14, I think).  But this amount greatly exceeds the total revenue that Parking receives from selling permits in the shuttle lot.  She thought it was worth making sure that the amount Parking is contributing towards the MTD is the appropriate amount, because any funds that could be "saved" there could be directed towards other sustainability-related initiatives within Parking.

    5) She pointed out that there are now 18 "Level 1" charging stations for electric vehicles on campus, and Parking has plans to install some "Level 2" charging stations in 2015.  She thought it might be worth showcasing this work on page 29 of the current draft, and I am inclined to agree.

    Cheers,

    Ben