The planning process for Department of Defense (DoD) charging infrastructure is labor intensive, uncertain, and facility specific, which limits scalability. U.S. Government and DoD goals for significant fleet electrification will demand efficiency improvements in both the planning process and characterization of costs. The Virtual Tiger project will streamline infrastructure planning previously completed by Tiger Teams of EVSE experts and provide cost estimates for charging station installation projects.

The project team will design and create a site assessment and planning tool for installation staff that integrates with the master planning process. The Electric Vehicle Infrastructure – Locally Optimized Charging Assessment Tool and Estimator (EVI-LOCATE) will allow staff and approved contractors to design electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure installations, calculate the project costs, and roll up charging port quantities and costs by parking lot, base, and DoD service.

The federal fleet includes more than 600,000 vehicles and less than 1% of those are electrified. DoD’s NTV fleet accounts for more than a quarter of this overall federal fleet. Government leadership in the acquisition and operation of electric vehicles presents a significant lever in driving the transition of more than 300 million vehicles in U.S. consumer and commercial use today. However, the lack of installed electric vehicle charging infrastructure on military installations and in commercial locations is a limiting factor for effective vehicle electrification.

The first step in this fleet turnover is a site specific time-phased plan for electric vehicle charging infrastructure. The outcomes of this project will provide easily accessible and guided tools to assist facility planners and energy managers to work together toward a consistent and concise plan for expanding electric vehicle charging infrastructure to meet demands. In comparison to conducting unique analyses for each site, the project team expects the planning costs to be reduced by 50-75%. When applied to the breadth of DoD installations, it is forecasted to save more than $40M in electric vehicle infrastructure planning expenses.