New York City is extending its fleet with Ford F-150 Lightnings. The Big Apple authority has again ordered a large number of pickup trucks from the Blue Oval in an attempt to transition to a completely electric fleet in the next few years.
New York City started the progressive switch to EVs back in December 2021, when they ordered 184 Ford Mustang Mach-E electric crossovers, most of them currently used for law enforcement purposes. Then 300 Ford E-Transit cargo vans followed shortly. In January 2023, 150 Ford F-150 Lightnings and 360 more E-Transit vans were ordered. Over 1,000 Chevrolet Bolts are also part of the local fleet.
Authorities claim that the transition is going smoothly. That is why more pickup trucks are coming. New York City Department of Citywide Administrative Services (DCAS) Commissioner Daw M. Pinnock and NYC Parks Commissioner Sue Donoghue revealed that the agency placed an order for 86 more Lightnings.
They went for the standard range version, which is the base configuration. It comes with a dual-motor setup for a total system output of 452 horsepower and 775 pound-feet (1,050 Nm) of torque.
Energy is stored in a 98-kWh battery pack, which helps the vehicle drive for up to 240 miles (386 kilometers) before it needs to be plugged in again, according to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The electric variant of the F-150 sports a payload of 2,000 pounds (910 kilograms).
Photo: Ford
The vehicles will be used, according to the NYC, by the parks department for several tasks, such as maintenance and operations, as well as supporting forestry work and transport to facilitate public programming.
Around 36 percent of the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation's (Parks) fleet (570 units) is currently electric, with the number set to grow significantly in the following years. These numbers make the Parks the agency with the largest number of electric vehicles among all government agencies in New York.
Parks has 510 charging ports and 309 charging stations at 82 different locations throughout the city. Meanwhile, DCAS operates the largest EV charging network in New York State, with over 1,700 charging ports available to fleet units, including fast chargers and solar carports. DCAS will provide another 500 charging ports in the upcoming 18 months.
The agency’s representatives claim that this is part of their way of improving air quality throughout the city, while also reducing fuel and maintenance costs.
Ford started delivering the examples ordered, and the last of them are to scheduled to arrive by the end of the year.
The move is compliant with what is to come. The City Council passed a law that forces agencies to switch to zero-emission fleets. According to the new regulation, the New York City government agencies can only purchase electric light and medium-duty vehicles after 2024 and only heavy-duty vehicles after 2028.
NYC has reached its target of having 4,000 EVs in its fleet by 2025, three years ahead of the deadline. Despite the authorities in New York meeting deadlines, the United States still lag behind. Only 7% of total car sales in the US is represented by electric cars. DCAS expects to operate over 5,000 EVs by the end of the year. The agency has also placed an order for the first three electric buses, set to enter the use of the Department of Correction.
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