The perceived slowdown in adopting electric vehicles (EVs) in North America doesn’t mean fleets should pause, slow down, or abandon their fleet electrification plans. On the contrary, this is the time to start planning, piloting, and maturing a long-term conversion strategy to fleet electrification.
With new regulations requiring the use of EVs coming into effect in the next few years and states such as California, Colorado, Massachusetts, and at least ten others looking to phase out internal combustion engines, now is the time to evaluate EVs and consider the many factors of incorporating EVs into fleet operations.
Fleet managers often consider the high initial costs of electric vehicles as an obstacle to adopting EV fleets. However, a closer look at the total cost of ownership typically shows that EVs are more economical than conventional ICE vehicles in the long run.
The cost-effectiveness of EV fleets
Analyses comparing EVs with equivalent internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles have shown that EV fleets are typically more cost-effective. This has resulted from comparing annual mileage, maintenance, financing options, and other operational factors. While the upfront costs of EVs are higher, they tend to break even within a few months to a few years.
However, this is fleet and use-dependent, so the analysis process can get complicated quickly. It’s important to collaborate with a partner capable of providing sophisticated analysis to ensure cost-effectiveness for your unique business case.
Impact on end-user costs
There may be concerns about the cost impact on end-users when adopting EV fleets. But EVs offer pathways for fleets to optimize costs through lower operating overhead and maintenance expenses and the ability to control fuel costs — resulting in significantly lower operational costs over the long term.
Sophisticated fleets that adopt a long-term view to optimize operations may “fix” their electric fueling costs through unique power purchases or service-based agreements with infrastructure partners. EVs are inherently connected vehicles. Fortunately, there are software tools that offer visibility into a fleet, offering access to real-time fleet operational data and helping optimize operations.
Just as leveraging the real-time use of telematics and data analytics is critical to optimizing EV fleet operations, ongoing strategic planning and lowering or locking in electric fueling costs are also essential to successfully managing fleet efficiency and subsequently impacting end-user costs.
Infrastructure collaboration
The most critical aspect of transitioning to an electric fleet is fully understanding the charging infrastructure and planning for upgrades. Historical fleet operational data is crucial in establishing a baseline for charging infrastructure needs.
In contrast, telematics is ongoing in determining and optimizing infrastructure operations to support current needs. Telematics data from connected EVs can identify high-density operational areas, clusters of vehicles requiring fast charging, helping to manage energy flow and associated demand charges, managing overall electrical load and when regulations permit doing so, even exchanging energy back to the grid for ancillary revenue streams for the fleet operator.
This data forms the basis for collaboration between fleet operators, infrastructure providers, and utilities, ensuring the strategic placement of EV charging stations and ongoing charging station operation.
Connected vehicle technology provides deep visibility and data that lets users make effective, analytic-driven improvements, saving costs, and increasing driver safety.
Supporting the EV technology ecosystem
Technological advancements are transforming fleet operations with innovations like predictive maintenance — which leverages data from on-vehicle systems and sensors for proactive maintenance, significantly reducing downtime.
Vehicles can be remotely diagnosed, with fault conditions decoded, reducing downtime in the maintenance bay. One route optimization software tool can increase vehicle use and predict when and where to charge — refining how, when, and where a vehicle needs to be positioned to save time and fuel.
It’s clear that the future of fleets, especially electric fleets, will be data-driven. An operational foundation built on data is essential to support ongoing operations optimization to achieve cost-efficiency.
Current and future EV infrastructure
The Tesla Supercharger network aside, public charging is often not where it needs to be in North America, particularly in terms of concentration, accessibility, and reliability. The good news is that starting as soon as 2025, most charging manufacturers who operate in the public charging space will have to support vehicles that adopt the Tesla North American Charging Standard (NACS) standard.
This unification of standards in North America will significantly boost access to on-route charging. Nearly every OEM has committed to releasing vehicles that will adopt NACS. Further good news is that the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) has rapidly matured the NACS standard, with a good amount of future-proofing built in, setting a solid foundation for harmonizing charging.
Additionally, there will be backward compatibility through adapters supporting vehicles already on the road today. Fleet managers should be aware of these industry trends as they play a crucial role in decision-making and the definition of strategies for fleet electrification and vehicle choices.
Electric vehicles will be an integral part of the transportation landscape in the future of fleet operation. But a multitude of factors — everything from macroeconomic factors to vehicle and infrastructure availability — impact the level and speed of adoption. The journey towards electrification, marked by collaboration, innovation, and strategic planning, offers a new era in fleet management.
Fleet managers can effectively navigate the transition to electric vehicle fleets, ensuring operational efficiency, cost-effectiveness, and environmental compliance, by being fully tuned into the evolving technologies and tapping a trusted partner to help in this journey. The time to get engaged and start planning is now.
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