September 14, 2022 – The Dearborn, Mich.-based automaker is teaming with a Ferguson, a Newport News, Va. distributor of plumbing supplies, waterworks and fire and fabrication products on an alternative energy vehicle pilot program. With the competition for EV semi-trucks increasing ever so quickly, Ford does not want to be left behind.
The pilot program will evaluate how fuel cell technology will operate within the Ferguson fleet, while providing real-world usage data to Ford. Ferguson will provide Ford with vehicle data and feedback about the technology to help Ford better define the engineering requirements for commercial vehicle duty cycles.
Ford will study the data for ongoing industry challenges within the medium-duty and heavy-duty work truck segments, like battery range and payload capacity, that have prevented faster conversion to environmentally friendlier options. Ferguson previously announced another pilot program to launch 30 class 6 through 8 all-electric delivery trucks in its fleet in collaboration with Holman and Electrada.