Cintas Begins Electrical Automobile Pilot Program – Inexperienced Fleet
The corporate’s EV pilot launched in early 2022, with the primary automobile deployment within the Los Angeles space.
Cintas Company introduced on Dec. 16 the launch of its electrical automobile pilot program, which incorporates nearly 20 automobiles from a number of producers. This system began earlier this yr within the Los Angeles space.
Seventeen completely different automobiles from 5 producers are — or have been — included within the pilot, with extra models in Cincinnati, Detroit, Los Angeles, Minneapolis, San Francisco, San Jose, and Seattle.
“Our potential to take away automobiles powered by fossil fuels from our fleet and introduce automobiles that run on renewable or different fuels will likely be an essential think about our potential to attain our Web Zero ambition and scale back our carbon emissions depth,” mentioned Christy Nageleisen, Cintas VP of Atmosphere, Social and Governance (ESG) and chief compliance officer. “After we meet with employee-partners within the subject, the EV pilot program is all the time close to the highest of their pursuits. There’s a whole lot of pleasure and anticipation all through the group about our EV program, and we’re wanting to see how these pilot automobiles carry out whereas out in service and working our routes.”
By way of the pilot program, Cintas will consider the efficiency, sturdiness, and reliability of assorted EVs in a wide range of enterprise, climate, and highway circumstances. Utilizing the automobiles in real-world circumstances is meant to assist the corporate higher perceive the expectations, advantages, and potential challenges of EVs in its distinctive route-based enterprise, in response to its announcement.
“After we initially determined to pilot the (electrical) automobiles, we needed to check markets that have been chilly, sizzling, that had snow – that had all of the completely different climate circumstances – in order that we ensured we obtained the best automobile for the best business,” mentioned Mark Bolen, Cintas VP of high quality and engineering. “Up till this level, the know-how wasn’t on the market to begin a program like this. Over the past two or three years, they’ve actually come alongside to the place the know-how’s there.”
EV Analysis in Motion
Cintas’ fleet division works intently with varied OEMs to establish extra alternatives, new applied sciences, and future use instances, to maximise the effectiveness and efficiency of EVs within the pilot program, the corporate mentioned.
“We’re always speaking to our distributors, assembly weekly on convention calls, sharing data, then our group – the fleet group – really has telephone calls with our operations to grasp precisely what’s transpiring all through the week,” Bolen mentioned. “We’re ensuring the automobile is performing the place we wish it to, after which we’re always making that vary exit a little bit bit additional, and a little bit bit additional, a little bit bit additional.”
Future Plans
Heading into 2023, Cintas plans to acquire and deploy extra EVs spanning completely different automobile fashions, together with varied light-, medium-, and heavy-duty models, and expects to develop the pilot program in each amount and scope. It plans to amass as many as 50 extra models within the subsequent calendar yr.
Further grant funding has already been secured by completely different authorities initiatives to help its program and take a look at extra fashions, in response to the announcement.
Cintas leaders are monitoring developments in different varieties of alternate-fuel automobiles as effectively. The corporate goals to attain Web Zero GHG emissions by 2050.
Cintas operates one of many largest company fleets in North America, with nearly 14,000 business automobiles deployed all through the US and Canada.
