Electric vehicles are here!
Southern Company is excited about the unique opportunity this emerging market offers our customers.
Southern Company advocates electric transportation technologies, both on-road and non-road, and we are ready to meet our customers’ evolving electric transportation needs.
Industry leader in non-road
Southern Company is leading the nation in non-road
electric transportation technology. We are promoting
a multitude of total electric non-road transportation
and charging technologies at airports,
seaports, rail yards, mines, and distribution
centers, where electric material handling
equipment is used in almost every
industry to move cargo, stock, pallets,
and other materials.
We’ve helped many commercial and
industrial customers save thousands of
dollars annually on fuel costs by using electric
vehicles and equipment to move materials.
With today’s fast charging systems,
the availability and productivity of
electric material-handling vehicles
and equipment has increased, also
contributing to cost savings and
operational efficiencies.
Southern Company’s electric transportation involvement
Southern Company has been involved in electric
transportation research since the early ’90s.
We’re working with electric vehicle manufacturers
and the Electric Power Research
Institute (EPRI) to bring economically and
technologically viable on-road electric transportation
technologies to the marketplace,
enhance the speed of adoption, and understand
the impacts of electric vehicle charging on our
nation’s electricity grid.
We’re also evaluating plug-in electric vehicles,
both hybrid and total electric, and charging
technologies for use in our own operations.
We are helping to develop charging infrastructure standards for the 2010 and beyond multi-vehicle roll-out, including standards for vehicle-to-home (V2H) and vehicle-to-grid (V2G) technologies.
Meeting our customers’ needs
Electric transportation represents an opportunity to enhance our customers’ experience by helping them save money and reduce their environmental impact. Southern Company is finding ways to help customers who choose to purchase electric vehicles.
We’re implementing lower electricity rates and programs for off-peak usage so that customers have the opportunity to save on their electric vehicle charging costs.
Gulf Power offers customers an Energy Select rate, and Georgia Power offers a PEV (plug-in electric vehicle) rate. Alabama Power is developing a Time of Use rate that will benefit electric vehicle owners, and Mississippi is developing a PEV rate as well.
Charging options
Today’s electric vehicles are capable of being charged from a standard 120-volt receptacle, which every home has. So, a buyer can purchase a car and drive it home and charge it in a standard outlet. However, some may require 240-volt chargers for overnight charging.
Benefits of electric transportation
On-road and non-road electric vehicles and equipment are quiet, efficient and clean and offer users the opportunity to save money on fuel and maintenance costs, reduce their environmental impact, and contribute to the energy independence of the U.S. by using a domestic source of energy.
Gasoline or diesel engines wear over time leading to higher tailpipe emissions with the age of the vehicle, whereas, electric vehicles will get cleaner over time as the generation of electricity continues to get cleaner.
Southern Company is investing billions of dollars to reduce our emissions. Since 1990, we’ve reduced our emissions of sulfur dioxide by approximately 60 percent and nitrogen oxide by approximately 70 percent, while increasing electricity generation by more than 30 percent.
Even though electric vehicle owners can expect to see an increase in their electricity use, they will still save money powering their vehicles with electricity. The cost of gasoline per mile is greater than the cost of electricity per mile. It’s estimated that electric vehicle owners will realize about a 60 percent savings in fuel costs.