In January, Ford announced a new pilot program as part of an effort to electrify farming.
Ford Pro, the automaker’s commercial vehicles division, has partnered with Sonoma County Winegrowers to outfit three farms in one of California’s most notable winemaking communities with electric vehicles.
As part of the program, Ford Pro will supply the F-150 Lightning pickup, E-Transit cargo vans, and Ford Pro Intelligence platform, which provides insight like fleet tracking, real-time maintenance alerts, and driver behavior insights. The farms will also receive charging stations.
The pilot hopes to demonstrate "how electric vehicles and web-based fleet management tools can help farmers increase productivity, improve sustainability, and lower the total cost of fleet ownership” by up to 20%.
The program will launch with Bevill Vineyard Management and Vino Farms in Healdsburg, and Dutton Ranch in Sebastopol. In total, the three farms span some 4,000 acres in California. The pilot will likely expand to other farms in the following months. The farms won’t just have access to the vehicles and telematics as Ford’s team will be available if or when issues arise.
Some vehicles at these farms log up to 50,000 miles a year. The ability to have real-time access to the vehicle’s health status helps them stay on the road, even if it’s little more than a dirt path.
They could also help cut costly fuel expenses. For example, Dutton Ranch has a fleet of some 70 work vehicles. Fuel costs for the farm average about $5,000 per month.
