Ford, Xcel partner on commercial EV chargers, just not in Minnesota yet

Xcel Energy and Ford Motor Co. announced Tuesday they are collaborating to outfit business fleets with 30,000 electric vehicle charging ports across eight states by 2030.

The program would begin in Wisconsin and Colorado in 2024 but could expand elsewhere — including in Minnesota — if approved by utility regulators.

Minneapolis-based Xcel says most up-front costs for charging equipment and installation for businesses qualifying under the initiative would be offset by the power company. Ford Pro, the automaker's commercial division, would offer the equipment itself and customer service and support after installation.

The program is Xcel's latest foray into fostering adoption of electric vehicles, which could provide a revenue boost as the utility sells power to EV charging stations. The utility in June scrapped a plan for hundreds of public charging stations in Minnesota and replaced it with a much smaller EV initiative. But the company has jumped into building a large fleet of public charging stations in Colorado.

Xcel also has a pilot project in Minnesota aimed at commercial charging infrastructure. Ford and Xcel said their collaboration would be the first of its kind between an automaker and a utility company.

"For most of our fleets that we service today and the commercial fleet managers that we speak with, their biggest concern isn't range anxiety," said Dave Prusinski, Ford Pro's general manager of integrated services. "It's the lack of convenient charging options."