news | 20 October 2022

Department of Defense Prototyping Electric Vehicle (EV) Chargers To Meet New Government Electric Ground Transportation Initiatives

EV_Michael_Marais_Unsplash
(Michael Marais/Unsplash)

All Military Services involved in prototyping EV chargers to meet future demand

MOUNTAIN VIEW, CA (October 20 2022)—As electric vehicles (EVs) transform the ground transportation landscape, the government will need to provide EV chargers to enable on-base EV usage. To help the Department of Defense (DoD) adapt to the impending influx of EVs, the Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) has partnered with the U.S. Navy, U.S. Marine Corps, U.S. Air Force, and the Army Reserve to pilot installation of modern EV charging technology across eight domestic military bases. Leveraging a combination of Level-2 and Level-3 chargers, this pilot project will enable charging for both government-owned vehicles (GOVs) and personally-owned vehicles (POVs).

Once the on-base charger installation phase is complete, DIU will run a yearlong analysis to measure usage, uptime, vehicle types (i.e., POV vs GOV), wait times, and mean time to repair. The project will also evaluate the viability of “Charging-as-a-Service” payment models, wherein POV charging revenues defray DoD EV infrastructure investments. 

DIU has partnered with the U.S. Navy, U.S. Marine Corps, U.S. Air Force, and the Army Reserve to pilot installation of modern EV charging technology across eight domestic military bases.

By increasing the number of chargers on military bases, DoD is creating the infrastructure needed to expand EV usage, which will minimize carbon emissions in the long-run. Upon successful completion of the pilot, DoD partners intend to roll-out chargers to other bases across the United States.

DIU received 44 responses to the EV Charger Project solicitation. A panel of DoD subject matter experts facilitated a rigorous and competitive Commercial Solutions Opening (CSO) down-select process, resulting in the selection of seven vendors for the EV charging effort. The DoD partners selected TechFlow, a San Diego-based company with expertise in renewable energy projects, to complete the first eight pilots. Additional vendors are available to put on award via a DIU portal for DoD agencies looking to fund further FY23 EV efforts.

“DIU leveraged its CSO process to rapidly launch an electric vehicle support equipment program, bringing new vendor partners to the DoD,” said Benjamin Richardson, DIU Energy Portfolio Director. “EV technology is not novel, but its use in military installations is, especially when combining Level-2 and Level-3 chargers for overnight and fast-charging use cases within the same military base. We’re excited to help with the military’s effort to reduce its carbon footprint by making EV charging for government and Service Members more accessible than ever.”

Top image attribution: Michael Marais (https://unsplash.com/photos/HjV_hEECgcM)