Businesses in Europe using the Ford Transit in their fleets have a tool to figure out if going electric makes sense for them, and that tool is now available here in the U.S. The software, dubbed Ford Pro E-Switch Assist, aims to help business and government customers determine if going electric is suitable for their fleet.

“What we have heard is customers feel this is a free consulting service,” Nathan McDonald, EV strategy and brand manager for Ford Pro, told Auto Remarketing.

“The challenging part of transitioning to EVs is the unknown,” he said. “(E-Switch Assist) takes away the unknown. We know customers aren’t going to wholesale switch from all ICE to EVs. We are able to show them which vehicles can switch today.”

Using information gathered in connected Ford F-150 trucks and Transit vans, including cargo load, driver behavior, terrain, climate and more, the software platform compares the energy used in a day to the number of charges that would be required to support an EV.

“The benefit of using this energy model is it takes into account what is actually happening on the vehicle,” said McDonald. “Are you carrying feathers or bowling balls? What environment are you travelling in? Are you heavy on the pedal?”

Tweaking for the U.S. market

Ford Pro customers in Europe began using E-Switch Assist in early summer of 2024, just before it launched in the U.S. So far, it has evaluated some 38,000 vehicles to determine if they are suitable to go all-electric.

The complimentary web-based software, which was developed in-house by Ford, determined that nearly 53% are potential candidates to go electric, according to Ford.

The Ford F-150 Lightning isn’t sold in Europe so Ford had to add the F-150 Lightning standard and extended range pickups to the E-Switch Assist platform for use in the U.S., said McDonald.

So far, it has opened some eyes.

“In the US market, when the customers were seeing the results, it was changing their mentality of what EVs would mean for their fleets,” he said.

“E-Switch Assist has really opened up new conversations with business customers who want to buy from America’s leading truck brand but with the efficiency of electrification. And if E-Switch Assist finds a customer’s use case isn’t ideal to make the switch, we let them know that too.”

To get the best results, Ford recommends using at least three or four weeks of data before taking any action, said McDonald. “The tool can project an entire year for energy consumption if you have six weeks or more of data,” he said. “There is real benefit of getting customers in this tool and have it log data over time.”

Part of a larger go-electric offering

A recent survey of fleet managers found 30% of vehicles spent the night at employees’ homes. So, Ford offers the Ford Pro Series 2 48-amp home charger. Featuring RFID technology, the charger manages charging at the best rate times and also helps with reimbursement, said McDonald.

“The fleet drivers who bring an EV home, their electricity bill is going to go up,” he said. “(Developing the home charging solution) comes from listening to our customers and solving for their needs.”

Ford Pro also offers online dealer training through the online Ford Pro Power Up Academy. More than 570 dealers have trained on the site, said McDonald. After training, 33% of attendees felt more confident in talking to customers about switching to electric and 26% reported an increase in their ability to identify which customers an EV might be right for, said McDonald.

But will it work for LA businesses?

Galpin Ford’s commercial vehicle center is one of the largest volume F-150 Lightning and E-Transit dealerships in the U.S.

When Ford Pro trainers came to her dealership, “they were generalizing about the electric market,” said Cheryl Cast, commercial sales director at the Galpin Ford Commercial Vehicle Center.

She hadn’t been introduced to E-Switch Assist but looking at it online said it could be useful if someone was questioning if they could go electric or not.

But the tool might not be suitable for Los Angeles, which is huge, sprawling, and famously prone to traffic jams. It might need to be tweaked for Los Angeles, she said.

“It is hard to go electric for these businesses in the Greater LA area,” said Cast.