As a part of the national effort to follow the guidance in the Executive Order on Catalyzing Clean Energy Industries and Jobs Through Federal Sustainability, federal agencies with at least 20 operational vehicles are working to transition to a fully zero-emissions fleet by 2035. Parallel with this initiative are goals to consume 50% carbon-free electricity and slash 65% of greenhouse gas emissions by 2030. Agencies are working diligently to achieve these goals, but since it requires a considerable infrastructure transformation, electrification will take an all-hands-on-deck approach.
“What [the EO] did is basically put the federal government in a position to be a leader in the transition to a clean energy economy with some pretty aggressive targets,” says Tristan Bannon, Executive Director of Renewable Energy and Climate Technologies at Leidos, a leading science and technology company that helps agencies match the right vehicles to their mission to drive selection of the right charging infrastructure in the right locations for optimal delivery.
“With the requirements of the EO firmly in mind, we are seeing a significant rise in interest by government fleet leaders that are looking to understand the best ways to continue to achieve their fleet’s mission while advancing to newer technologies,” adds Paul Grimes, Leidos’ Vice President of Energy Infrastructure. He explains the memorandum empowers agencies to embrace electrification and deliver large-scale solutions for a government-wide conversion to zero emissions.
Although it will play a role in reducing the nation’s carbon output, the promise of federal electrification is not without hurdles. The shift’s complexity and tight timelines have left fleet managers and sustainability officers confronting a multitude of challenges, including implementing operational change management, managing supply chain uncertainty, creating and maintaining vehicle charging infrastructure, and effectively assigning available electric vehicles to fleet missions.
“The federal government owns an enormous fleet, serving important missions across agencies,” Bannon says. “And today, they are responsible for operating those fleets across complex geographies, with unique security requirements, and in an incredible diversity of missions, so this is really an unprecedented undertaking.”
Moreover, adopting zero-emissions electric vehicles also requires a vast network of charging stations, power supply equipment and resiliency technology — infrastructure which, though not new, can be extremely difficult to design and deploy quickly at the scale the federal government needs.
Understanding the Challenges
As a result, federal leaders can face analysis paralysis — the struggle to determine the benefits and constraints around different ZEV options, understand which best meet their individual energy profile and mission needs, as well as how to – and when to – reconfigure their infrastructure to accommodate the shift.
“Fleet leaders must align the missions for which their fleets are used to available ZEV options. At the same time, they must acquire the right charging equipment and connect it to new or upgraded power infrastructure to make it all functional,” says Bannon. “And these are all net new activities, net new requirements that are being placed on fleet, energy, facility, and sustainability managers who already have full time jobs. It’s a lot of work and it needs to happen in a relatively short time frame.”
Understandably, electrification can leave responsible leaders overwhelmed and unsure where to start as they work to meet the federal deadline. To aid in the transition, many agencies are turning to trusted and experienced industry partners.
Electrification planning and execution needs to be customized very closely to the mission and its specific challenges. For example, one fleet’s unique requirements and operational needs can drive vast differences in the design of the charging infrastructure for a similarly sized fleet of vehicles executing a different mission, Grimes says.
“Having somebody to walk through that framework or develop a roadmap, to be a guidepost partner along the way is pretty critical to successfully maintaining operational readiness, aligning with organizational culture, and creating the positive impact of the EO,” he adds.
“The federal government owns an enormous fleet, serving important missions across agencies. And
today, they are responsible for operating those fleets across complex geographies, with unique security requirements, and in an incredible diversity of missions, so this is really an unprecedented undertaking.”
Finding the Right Industry Partner
Leidos has worked with the public sector to solve its most complex problems for decades, while also ushering in electrification in the private sector. Grimes and Bannon, and the Leidos team of engineers, are already bringing their proven expertise to the federal government to help agencies electrify their fleets.
“Fleet electrification at this scale involves planning, designing, integrating, installing and sustaining a mix of commercial and bespoke technologies in a really mission-intensive environment,” Bannon explains. Leidos’ approach to this complex challenge is simple: Help agencies deliver the right solution using the right infrastructure for their mission. Leidos brings a unique blend of industry and government expertise and is helping federal agencies plan for fleet electrification and implement their plans across the full lifecycle, including through installation and sustainment.
“To really solve this problem, you need to get in the details, you need to really understand how missions are executed in the real world,” Grimes adds. “Leidos brings that understanding and when coupled with the engineering capability in the power delivery space that Leidos brings, I don’t think there’s a company that’s more suited to solving and addressing this challenge.”
Moving Toward an Electrified Future
At this point, over a year after the release of the EO, electrification progress varies based on agency. Bannon advises agencies not to delay in planning and implementation.
“For the agencies who are just now getting started, the good news is, it's not too late,” he says. “Right now is a great time to build your plan and understand your fleet. Even if you start a little late, you can still become more efficient and optimize how you run your fleet in the first place.”
Looking ahead, a common barrier for leaders on the way to electrification is taking the first step in developing a plan. But as more of the federal sector continues to deploy EVs, Grimes says government operations actually won’t change much. Ultimately, Grimes’ main piece of advice for fleet managers worried about the process is to just keep moving forward.
“Completely electrified vehicles will need to be plugged in instead of fueled, but other than that the future looks and acts that same as it does today in terms of being able to meet mission requirements.” he says. “It just takes planning for the change, understanding what the options are and moving forward to create the best outcome. The executive order framework is helping facilitate that advancement overall and Leidos can help ensure the best path.”
Learn more about how Leidos can assist your agency with fleet electrification.
Electrify the Mission
How Agencies Can Successfully Meet
the Requirements of the Clean Energy EO
and Implement Zero-Emissions Fleets
Tristan Bannon, Executive Director of Renewable Energy and Climate Technologies, Leidos
In fact, Leidos already works with various agencies on this transition. Recently, the company delivered a comprehensive EV charging infrastructure plan to the Department of Energy’s Hanford nuclear cleanup site for over 1,800 vehicles operating on more than 580 square miles of rural, austere terrain in central Washington state.
While this effort was imperative in solving a key problem for the agency, Grimes notes it was also an opportunity to highlight the efficacy of the Leidos framework and illustrate how its basic components can help all of the federal sector address and overcome this challenge.
“The Department of Energy’s challenge is one that’s faced across the government in terms of what issues need to be addressed, what can be executed in a meaningful way, and providing a business case that demonstrates clear results. It’s important to give visibility into the real-world challenges of the process so agencies can plan ahead and advance the transformation,” he explains. “All those things were included in the plan, and I think that’s what really makes it such a successful endeavor.”
“Fleet electrification at this scale involves planning, designing, integrating, installing and sustaining a mix of commercial and bespoke technologies in a really mission-intensive environment.”
Tristan Bannon, Executive Director of Renewable Energy and Climate Technologies, Leidos
“With the requirements of the EO firmly in mind, we
are seeing a significant rise in interest by government fleet leaders that are looking to understand the best ways to continue to achieve their fleet’s mission
while advancing to newer technologies.”
Paul Grimes, Vice President of Energy Infrastructure, Leidos
Federal electrification will also inherently create more demand for electric vehicles, or EVs, which could more rapidly shift priorities for the automobile industry in the transition from gasoline and diesel cars and trucks while also positively impacting the national drive to cut vehicle emissions.
“By making this transition to zero-emission vehicles, the federal government is creating an enormous demand signal, which is giving the auto manufacturers a reason to further ramp up production of electric vehicles,” Bannon says. “The federal government purchases about 50,000 vehicles every year, that's a huge opportunity to sell into what is essentially a reliable single buyer. Combined with what some of the states are doing with their own fleet transitions, it’s a great stabilizing platform for domestic and foreign EV manufacturers.”
There is a similar effect for the electric energy delivery market. The government’s transition away from traditional combustion fuels will require significant upgrades to the nation’s electricity delivery capabilities and the expansion of vehicle charging networks. The EO provides a clear market demand for both traditional and nontraditional energy providers to create new solutions to meet the high levels of electric power often required by fleets of EVs.
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“To really solve this problem, you need to get in the details, you need to really understand how missions
are executed in the real world. Leidos brings that understanding and when coupled with the engineering capability in the power delivery space that Leidos brings, I don’t think there’s a company that’s more suited to solving and addressing this challenge.”
Paul Grimes, Vice President of Energy Infrastructure, Leidos
