Skanska USA Civil team pilots hybrid Ford F-150 for real-world feedback
Earlier this year, Ford Motor Company presented our USA Civil (USC) team with an opportunity they couldn’t refuse: to pilot the 2021 Ford F-150 Hybrid truck—the only full hybrid powertrain available in a pickup—to compile real-world feedback on the performance of a hybrid vehicle in the construction industry.
In May 2021, James Bailey, senior vice president/general manager, acquired the hybrid vehicle and began performance testing. With the ambitious goal of putting 100,000 miles on the truck, he has driven it across Southern California and Nevada, from San Diego to Los Angeles to Las Vegas and back again. Every month, our team reports performance updates to Ford with information about the truck’s shifting, fuel economy, idling, switching between hybrid and gas, load capacity, driver assistance capabilities and other general feedback about the vehicle.
“So far, the truck has been a great tool that allows us to do our jobs efficiently, while benefitting the environment,” said James. “These hybrid vehicles are a step in the right direction for a more sustainable fleet for our workers, and for reaching our company’s 2045 carbon neutrality goals.”
James observed a third of carbon reduction in the fuel economy, in comparison to his previous work truck. The hybrid F-150 gets an average 24 miles per gallon (MPG) versus an average of 18 MPG in his previous truck. With this reduction in carbon, the convenience of the hybrid powertrain, and no loss in power—considering the truck’s ability to tow up to 12,700 pounds and haul more than 2,000 pounds confidently with 430 horsepower and 570 pound-feet of torque—James’ team ordered 10 hybrid F-150s for their fleet.
“Next on our list for our sustainable fleet is adding significant quantities of all electric pickups; a major step in that journey is to figure out the logistics,” said Mason Ford, director of equipment services. “We need to install charging infrastructure at our sites and map out how our employees will charge these vehicles when they return home and how this will change the way we do business. As a company, we’re planning our path forward to reach our target carbon goals with the addition of energy-efficient vehicles.”
“With this pilot program, we’re in the transition of getting our craft workers, foremen and superintendents into these hybrid trucks. That’s a first for us, which is exciting. We’ll be getting our project teams’ feedback on how the trucks perform in everyday jobsite situations,” added James.
Five months into this partnership with Ford, James and Mason see a promising step towards greener construction.
“Our team spent months living with and observing truck customers at their homes, on job sites and on the weekends,” said Hau Thai-Tang, Ford chief product platform and operations officer. “Using electrification, we realized we could now give customers something they had long wanted but didn’t think was possible—tremendous power, great fuel economy and all-new capabilities to make their F-150 even more productive.”
Learn more about Skanska’s commitment to sustainability here.