An electric vehicle fleet is a group of electric vehicles (EVs) belonging to a company and used for business purposes.
An EV fleet can help a company increase brand recognition and lower operational costs, but operating an electric vehicle fleet comes with many new challenges.
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Fleet vehicles are used to transport people and goods and are usually branded.
Are red Coca-Cola trucks the most famous fleet vehicles? Or red double-decker buses from London? Maybe white FedEx or yellow DHL trucks and vans? All these iconic fleet vehicles will soon become electric, for a good reason.
With new environmental politics and more companies joining zero-carbon initiatives, like EV100, the number of EVs in fleets is rising. Most major companies have already announced they will have only electric vehicles in their fleets by 2040 or even sooner.
Why switch to electric vehicles in fleets?
With the world shifting to electric vehicles, it is not surprising that companies operating many vehicles are the first to jump on this trend. There are two main reasons for that.
The total cost of ownership
As shown in our blog on EV fleet management, the total cost of ownership (TCO) for electric vehicles in the fleet is lower than for ICE vehicles.
Electricity is cheaper than fuel, EVs have fewer breakdowns and require less maintenance. With time, companies could also lower their running costs by using Smart EV Charging and V2G (Vehicle to grid technology) to earn extra revenue.
The cons against using electric vehicles in fleets are more complicated “refueling,” aka EV fleet charging, and higher initial investment in EVs and the charging infrastructure. But as we can see every day, many companies overcome these obstacles easily with proper planning.
For charging, the answer is good EV Charging software. To avoid investment, electric vehicles can be leased, and companies can use EV Charging as a service to set up EV charging infrastructure.
They will be forced to switch
Introducing EVs to fleets is not a question of whether companies want to do it or not. Many cities are already banning ICE vehicles from city centers or penalizing them, which will only get more strict.
Also, by the looks of it now, by 2035, sales of new ICE vehicles will be banned anyway.
Even the most die-hard fan of ICE vehicles will soon have no option but to accept electric vehicles.
What does the electric vehicle fleet need for operation?
The magical word that answers the concerns of fleet electrification and electric car charging requirements is called EV fleet management. The required number of charge points and locations depends on the number of vehicles and routes traveled.
For the electric vehicle fleet to operate, these elements are needed:
- EV fleet management – Fleet monitoring
- Hardware and software integration – Software maintenance
- A large base of installed EV chargers – EV fleet charging solutions
- Energy planning and management – smart charging
- Digitalization, analytics, and connectivity – EV fleet management software
- Ensuring chargers’ reliability, stability, and availability, 24/7 – EV fleet charging solutions
Shifting from a traditional to an electric vehicle fleet reduces carbon emissions, meets sustainability goals and projects a positive image of the company in public.
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