ScottMadden
Fleet Electrification Planning
Fleets across the country are transitioning to electric vehicles. Companies and government entities are looking to electrify their fleets in order to meet carbon-reduction goals, and growing interest in clean energy initiatives is driving fleet owners to invest in more sustainable operations.
Fleet electrification goals may include near-, medium-, or long-term targets and are commonly aimed at achieving an organization’s sustainability and/or emissions reductions goals, saving costs related to operations and maintenance, and setting an example for customers, the community, and the industry.
However, infrastructure needs are not always considered when setting fleet electrification targets, and facility managers are often challenged to align on plans and budget commitments to support electrification goals. Through our work with companies across the country, ScottMadden has helped our clients to address a variety of challenges that are commonly faced when organizations plan to electrify their fleets. These commonly include understanding charging infrastructure requirements, managing construction and infrastructure procurement lead times, and coordinating across teams to ensure alignment of priorities, timelines, and budgets.
ScottMadden’s fleet electrification planning approach, detailed below, helps organizations take their fleet electrification plans to develop integrated strategies to efficiently and effectively accomplish their fleet electrification goals.
Fleet Electrification Planning
Develop Vehicle Electrification Strategy
What vehicle types and duty cycles can be electrified without impacting operations?
Determine Charging Infrastructure Needs
Forecast EV charging loads for each facility based on vehicle characteristics and duty cycle.
Develop Facility Infrastructure Plans
What kind of modifications or upgrades may be needed to accommodate EV charging load?
Integrate Facilities and Vehicle Electrification Strategies
Integrate fleet and facilities plans into a cohesive electrification strategy.
Vehicle Electrification Plans Drive Infrastructure Costs
How and when electric vehicles are charged can influence how much power is required and how much it will cost to charge. Charging needs are determined by the way in which vehicles are operated (duty cycle) and how they are charged (charging cycle).
As a Result...
- The number and size of EV chargers (Level 2 vs. fast chargers) will influence the upfront cost of charging infrastructure as well as ongoing charging expense
- How fleets are operated can mitigate both initial and ongoing costs
- This creates an opportunity for fleets to right-size infrastructure and manage costs
- Fleet managers should engage utilities early for information regarding infrastructure costs, including potential grid upgrades and cost of charging
Fleet Electrification is Facility Electrification
Successful fleet electrification includes planning for both vehicles and charging infrastructure.
FLEETS
Fleet electrification plans detail when and how fleet vehicles are converted to electric
- What vehicle types and duty cycles are best suited for electrification?
- What is the availability of acceptable EV models?
- What are the operational impacts to duty cycles?
- How soon will vehicles need to be procured to meet targets?
- How many and what capacity chargers will be needed?
FACILITIES
Often, the location and amount of charging infrastructure needed to support fleet electrification is overlooked
- Do facilities where vehicles are stored have the electric capacity to support EV charging?
- Will facilities require electric service upgrades?
- What is the estimated cost and timing of facility upgrades?
- Are facility upgrades included in electrification budgets and timelines?
Case Studies
Baselining the Existing Fleet
Planning for Charger Procurement and Installation
Assessing Facility Electrification Costs
Key Considerations
As fleet operators plan and implement electrificiation initiatives, they should consider industry best practices and lessons learned to avoid common challenges.
Fleet Data and Analytics
- Assess vehicle data to determine whether telematics are needed to get more complete tracking of vehicle duty cycles and charging windows
- Improve analytics to understand vehicle lifecycle and replacement timeline
Integrated Planning
- Ensure adequate time to build out required charging infrastructure
- Coordinate investments to maximize utilization
- Consider stored location as key criteria for EV deployment
Tech Advancement
- Don’t assume that all duty cycles can be met by electric vehicles
- Monitor/pilot other options especially in the heavy-duty fleet (i.e., hydrogen)
EVSE Optimization
- Leverage managed charging technologies where possible
- Consider shared employee and fleet charging spaces or lots
- Right-size charging network and determine optimal charger-to-vehicle ratio
Change Management
- Don’t skip on communicating the change to employees and customers
- Consider what retraining will be necessary for fleet employees
- Look to employees to identify ways to optimize operations and manage load
Customer Strategy
- Connect internal fleet initiatives with customer EV strategy
- Potential to draw insights from fleet EVs to inform commercial use cases (e.g., vehicle-to-grid)
What Should Fleets Do Next?
Each fleet will have unique electrification goals it seeks to achieve. Plans to implement new solutions to achieve these goals begins with understanding the interrelationship between electric vehicles and charging infrastructure and developing strategies and plans to implement the desired outcomes.
