Commercial fleets risk increasing capital expenditure by up to a third when transitioning to zero emission road transport by oversizing their electric vehicle infrastructure.
This was the opinion of Kevin Christopher, head of product at EV fleet management business ZeroMission, who claimed that concerns around vehicle range and charging availability are pushing organisations to commit to excessive levels of battery and fuelling redundancy.
“For any commercial fleet manager, it is critical that they have the vehicles needed to complete their daily operational requirements, so high reliability and up-time is key,” explained Christopher.
“To mitigate range anxiety, in particular, we are seeing a lot of commercial fleets investing in 20 to 30% more batteries than are needed.
“This in turn leads to a larger charging infrastructure and additional electrical service, which drives up the cost significantly.”
Christopher spoke as part of ZeroMission’s own EV webinar – titled ‘The real costs of electric vehicles and how to manage them effectively’.
Guest speakers on the webinar agreed that commercial fleets need to look at the data from their existing vehicle operation to determine what configuration is required.
This data-driven approach looks at vehicle spec and battery size alongside service requirements, range sensitivities, and the time available to charge, so any designed solution delivers a cost-effective “just-in-time, rather than just-in-case” programme.
Just-in-time, rather than just in case
Energy management was highlighted by Christopher as another major consideration as some costs often get overlooked in the planning stage when calculating total cost of ownership.
“Local grid operators can have complicated rate structures, resulting in a significant premium at certain times of the day, so you need a system that eliminates or vastly reduces charging during these periods to minimise expense on the fuelling side.
“In many cases, fleets are also charged for having dedicated capacity available, on top of paying for the actual consumption of that energy, which means there is a huge financial incentive for rightsizing the charging infrastructure from the start.”