The Electric Vehicle Fleet Experience at Southern California-Edison

Southern California-Edison (SCE) currently operates the largest fleet of electric vehicles (EVs) in North America. SCE’s EV experiences began in 1987 with prototype and electric conversions, such as the Conceptor G-Van, the Pentastar TEVan, and U.S.E. Sedan. Between 1994 and 1997, after the passage of the Energy Policy Act of 1992, SCE began using early OEM EVs, such as the Ford Ecostar and Chrysler TEVan, as well as early Toyota RAV4 EVs. The current fleet consists of 295 battery electric vehicles, primarily Toyota RAV4 EVs used by meter readers, with an additional 33 Ford Th!nk and GEM neighborhood electric vehicles used at company field offices for security patrols. The EV fleet has accumulated approximately 15 million zero-tailpipe-emission miles. In addition, the EV Technical Center (EVTC) in Pomona is constantly testing a variety of hybrid, plug-in hybrid, and fuel cell vehicles for potential use in Southern California-Edison’s fleet.
This paper chronicles EV fleet operational experiences by Southern California-Edison and insights into lessons learned from dealing with deployment obstacles. Much of the information focuses on the Toyota RAV4 EV due to the relatively large number of these vehicles in the fleet.