DTE Energy says its electric vehicle (EV) charging program, Charging Forward, is now offering Michigan-based businesses advisory services for transitioning to electric fleets.
DTE developed Charging Forward eFleets, a five-year, $13.4 million program to accelerate fleet electrification in Michigan. The program is designed to support fleet owners by facilitating their transition to electric fleets and integrating charger load efficiently with the DTE Electric distribution system. The program, which the Michigan Public Service Commission authorized to implement in 2021, offers charger rebates of up to $2,500 for Level 2 ports, up to $5,000 for opportunity chargers and up to $70,000 for direct current fast chargers (DCFCs).
In addition to providing education and charger rebates, eFleets delivers a variety of services that include a customized roadmap for customers to electrify their fleets. This seven-step plan includes an operational assessment of their current fleet, a comprehensive list of available EVs customized for their use case, personalized fuel and load forecasts, applicable chargers, assistance in connecting to the grid, financial modelling, and support for available charger rebates. This service will help customers transition to EVs, which will allow them to gain fuel savings and establish greener fleets.
“Our goal with eFleets is to bring operational savings and sustainability to fleet operators while also bringing the benefits of transportation electrification to society at large,” said Ben Burns, director of electric marketing at DTE Energy. “Our new services will reduce barriers to eFleet adoption for our commercial, industrial and business customers and provide opportunities to pilot integration with new clean technologies.”
DTE launched the Charging Forward program in 2019 with three primary components. The first component is an education and outreach effort to support customers throughout their journey to electric mobility. The second component offers a rebate to residential customers that have installed a qualified Level 2 charger and enrolled in a time-of-use electric pricing option and has issued over 800 rebates to-date.
The final component of the program offers incentives to its business customers to install, own and operate chargers. Since the program began, 921 Level 2 ports and 88 DCFCs have been approved.