US Army Expands Electrification Efforts

The U.S. Army will provide more electric vehicle charging at various locations across the country with an order from Beam Global.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and Army Materiel Command (AMC) placed an order of 88 EV ARC sustainable off-grid charging systems. The systems will be deployed across 21 locations in 16 states. The purchase was made through a GSA contract.

Furthering Electrification in the Army

The EV ARC systems will power non-tactical vehicles for the Army.

In Feb. 2023, Government Fleet reported on electrification efforts at various U.S. Army installations across the country. Since then, more charging stations have been delivered.

There are 345 solar-powered charging stations deployed and approximately 200 more that draw power from the grid, an AMC spokesperson told Government Fleet.

Approximately 1,000 EVs have been deployed across the U.S. since the Army's Climate Strategy was rolled out. Around 600 dual port charging stations have been installed to charge them.

Non-tactical vehicles are used by maintenance personnel, various engineers, military transportation operations, and research and development personnel to carry personnel and material from one site to another for mission purposes.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers supported AMC in the master planning for non-tactical fleet electrification efforts. The team has completed site visits and is working on final reports now. The team also did the heavy lifting on the solar charging unit procurement process.

The next phase, which includes further procurement and the installment of charging stations, is the responsibility of each installation. AMC hopes to fund the majority of the projects.

Electrifying the Federal Fleet

The new charging systems support Executive Order 14057, which calls for 100% zero-emission federal fleet light-duty vehicle acquisitions by 2027.

The U.S. Army released its Climate Strategy in 2022 in response to the executive order. The strategy outlines a plan to reduce its net greenhouse gas emissions by 50%, in part by transitioning to a fully EV fleet by 2050.

“As federal fleet electrification initiatives like Executive Order 14057 gain momentum, we expect continued growth in the federal sector. Energy security and energy resilience is an increasingly important consideration in building out the EV charging infrastructure and we support the goal to have 25% of EV charging infrastructure off-grid and powered by 100% renewable energy,” Beam Global CEO Desmond Wheatley said.

Putting a Target on Emissions Reduction Across the Federal Fleet

The FY2023 NDAA included a bill establishing a 2035 target for DoD’s non-tactical fleet to be electric or zero-emissions, pending a DoD study.

Since then, a lack of needed charging infrastructure was discovered, in addition to some grid stress concerns.

AMC is coordinating on the order of EVs to ensure there is enough infrastructure built at locations prior to overwhelming an installation. The agency is working with the installations to develop a contract mechanism to purchase and install the stations based on the vehicles placed at each one.