SCE Announces 2030 Goals for Electrifying Its Vehicle Fleet

Leadership role of the company and the utility industry are seen as critical to the transition to electric transportation.

By 2030, every passenger car and small-to-midsize SUV in Southern California Edison’s fleet will be electric, the company recently announced. Additionally, the electric utility will convert 30% of medium-duty vehicles and pickup trucks, 8% of heavy-duty trucks and 60% of forklifts from fossil fuel to electric power.

SCE estimates that in pursuing its 2030 fleet electrification goals, it will save more than 620,000 gallons of fuel annually and eliminate close to 6,000 metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions a year, or the same amount that would be saved by taking 7,600 cars off the road for a year or planting and growing nearly 600,000 trees for 10 years.

“As we encourage our customers to consider fleet electrification, it is critical for our company and our industry to continue to show leadership in this area,” said Drew Murphy, senior vice president of Strategy and Corporate Development for Edison International, SCE’s parent company. “Setting goals to electrify our own fleet is one more way to show that we remain committed to making the changes necessary to clean our air and reduce harmful greenhouse gas emissions.”

SCE estimates that in pursuing its 2030 fleet electrification goals, it will save more than 620,000 gallons of fuel annually and eliminate close to 6,000 metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions a year.
SCE estimates that in pursuing its 2030 fleet electrification goals, it will save more than 620,000 gallons of fuel annually and eliminate close to 6,000 metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions a year.

Edison International laid out the 2030 goals for electrification of SCE’s fleet of more than 6,200 vehicles, including trailers and off-road equipment, in its recently published 2019 Sustainability Report. To meet the demands of its growing electric fleet, SCE has installed more than 370 charge ports at its facilities as of 2019. The electric company expects to need about 1,300 additional charge ports to achieve its 2030 fleet electrification goals.

“Electrifying transportation represents the biggest opportunity to reduce harmful greenhouse gas emissions that cause climate change and drive down pollution that impacts public health,” Murphy said.

In Pathway 2045, SCE’s data-driven analysis of what it will take for California to attain its goal of being carbon neutral by 2045, the company calls for the electrification of 76% of light-duty vehicles, 67% of medium-duty vehicles and 38% of heavy-duty vehicles in the state over the next 25 years.

“Our goals for company fleet electrification will put us on the path to achieving or exceeding the percentages within SCE’s fleet that we’ve proposed for the entire state,” Murphy said. “Not only are we moving away from fossil fuel as a company, but we are also actively helping our employees and our customers to convert from gasoline and diesel to clean electricity.”

The company encourages employees to adopt electric vehicles by offering 190 workplace charge ports at 36 of its facilities and plans to install about 150 additional employee charge ports this year. SCE employees and customers also have access to discounts on certain EV models.

SCE’s ongoing initiatives to help its customers adopt EVs include:

SCE and its parent company have long been recognized as leaders in transportation electrification. Edison International President and CEO Pedro J. Pizarro currently cochairs a group of CEOs focused on electrifying transportation at Edison Electric Institute, a Washington-based association representing investor-owned electric companies.

To help extend its efforts in transforming the industry, SCE has recently joined a number of other organizations as well, including the Corporate Electric Vehicle Alliance, a collaborative group of companies focused on accelerating the transition to EVs led by the nonprofit group Ceres, the Center for Climate and Energy Solutions’ Business Environmental Leadership Council and CharIN, a global EV charging standardization group.

SCE Fleet Electrification by the Numbers

  • By 2030, SCE will electrify 100% of light-duty vehicles, 30% of medium-duty vehicles, 8% of heavy-duty vehicles and 60% of forklifts in its fleet.
  • SCE has a fleet of more than 6,200 vehicles, including trailers and off-road equipment.
  • The company estimates that pursuing its 2030 fleet electrification goals will save more than 620,000 gallons of fuel annually and eliminate close to 6,000 metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions a year, or the same amount that would be saved by taking 7,600 cars off the road for a year or planting and growing nearly 600,000 trees for 10 years.
  • SCE is an industry leader in fleet electrification and continues to exceed its 2014 commitment through EEI to spend at least 5% of its annual fleet acquisition budget on electrification options.
  • In 2019, 12% of SCE’s fleet acquisition spend was invested in EVs and plug-in technologies, and 13% of its overall fleet incorporated plug-in electric technology.
  • SCE is replacing its 310-forklift fleet with electric versions to reduce air and sound pollution. To date, 151 vehicles in the forklift fleet, or 47%, are electric.
  • As of year-end 2019, SCE has installed over 370 charge ports at its facilities to meet the demands of its growing electric fleet.
  • The company expects to need about 1,300 additional charge ports at its facilities to achieve its 2030 fleet electrification goals.
  • For employees, SCE offers 190 workplace charge ports at 36 of its facilities and plans to install about 150 additional employee charge ports this year.
  • Through its Charge Ready program SCE has installed more than 1,800 passenger EV chargers at more than 100 sites in its service area.
  • SCE is beginning construction on the first of as many as 870 sites that will help commercial customers electrify their medium- and heavy-duty fleets.