How-to guide

Transitioning to electrical power is an important decision for any fleet. It requires research and planning, to ensure money is invested wisely and that implementation is as seamless as possible.

This guide leads you through the most up-to-date market information and relevant fleet experiences. It is designed to give your company step-by-step guidance, taking you through the basics of EV technologies to the early adoption and evaluation of your own corporate fleet transition plan.

Prepare

Learn from others

You do not need to start from scratch. Investigate and learn how early adopters have made the transition.

Many companies have made ambitious commitments to transition their fleet to 100% electric. This guide provides detailed case studies that can provide valuable insights to help you on your journey.

Specific examples for each of this guide’s relevant use cases are identified here:

There are also many success stories with the use of storage for the integration of EV charger and renewable energy such as the University of Lilly or a collaborative project with Engie and La Poste. You can view more detailed examples in the case study section of this website.

Consider partnership opportunities to deploy new business and ownership models that will make managing EV fleet easier and cheaper.

Vehicle grid integration

The charging of EVs can be used by electric power companies for a variety of services designed to make the grid operate more efficiently. By way of smart charging and/or discharging electricity back into the grid, EV charging can be managed to produce revenues. Many charging companies and electricity providers are exploring how best to tap this potential capability and need partner fleets to test solutions.

Second life batteries

EV makers are trying to ‘close-the-loop’ on the battery supply chain. To do so they are testing new technologies that can extend the useful life of retired EV batteries in new applications like energy storage for buildings or EV charging. Here second life batteries can be used to expand charging capacity at locations where grid distribution capacity is limited, and to help buffer distribution loads to the benefit of the grid.

Mobile servicing

A new crop of companies are emerging to deliver charging to the EV wherever it may be. Using batteries on wheels, these companies charge EVs when there is no charger where they are parked. The operators of these services also provide maintenance and spot checks to ensure EVs are performance ready.

EV leasing model

Leasing eliminates the high initial capital outlay for acquiring fleet vehicles, and instead offers predictable and fixed monthly payments. The leasing company remains the owner of the vehicles which can further reduce your risk, since they bear the risk associated with residual values and reselling or disposal. Various leasing solutions may be on offer which may allow arrangements with increased flexibility, various leasing contract lengths, service/maintenance packages, vehicle livery services, breakdown cover and accident management etc. Additionally, the leasing company may provide specialist assistance with familiarising the fleet drivers with EVs and trial periods with the vehicles. However, the precise offerings are highly dependent on your location, hence the importance of starting conversations with leasing companies early in process.

Map challenges

Work with internal stakeholders to overcome adoption and mindset hurdles

Many people are not yet familiar with EVs and may have misconceptions that need to be addressed. Several ways to achieve this are:

Fleet ManagerOperationsSite ManagerHuman ResourcesCommunications
Challenge(s)Ensuring vehicle uptime is maximizedMeeting employee charging needsSecuring grid and building permitsAddressing driver issuesGetting driver buy-in
Tips

Use vehicle schedules to plan charging capacity accordingly.

Analyze technology options (generation + storage) to increase site electricity reliability.

Analyze charging solution approaches that can prioritize employee energy needs.

Include home charging solutions to minimize workplace charging needs.

Schedule early and frequent check-ins with DNO/DSO.

Work with property lessors to address installation options.

Analyze technology options (behind the meter load balancing) to defer upgrade requirements.

Schedule test drives to get employees behind the wheel.

Include conventional car rentals in policy packages to ease employee anxieties for long-range road trips during holidays.

Where possible, provide free energy to employees as benefit in kind (BIK).

To replace the traditional company “fuel card” provide employees with a charge card to use at public charge stations

Get top management to adopt first.

Strategically select early adopters and super-users who are positioned to act as EV advocates.

Produce messaging to educate employees on benefits and company goals.

Engage vendors

Analyze the value-adds and trade-offs offered by different vendors

The EV market is young and maturing. Vendors are innovating constantly. As you analyze vendor options across the suite of required services there are opportunities for both cost savings and pitfalls.

Charger
manufacturer		Charging network
managers		Automakers and
vehicle leasers		Electricity
retailer
Product/ServiceCharging equipmentInstallation, maintenance,
and energy management		Electric VehicleElectricity
Value-adds
  • Networked chargers
  • Wireless chargers
  • Bidirectional chargers
  • Mobile chargers
  • Interoperability
  • Energy storage
  • Charging-as-a Service
  • Load balancing
  • Grid services
  • Remote maintenance/
    automated technician
    servicing
  • Fit for purpose vehicles
  • Ability to lease vehicles
  • Compatible charging infra
  • Renewable energy
  • Grid services
  • Distributed generation & storage solutions
Pitfalls
  • Proprietary connection standards (may not be compatible with other chargers)
  • Non-OCPP compliant
  • Non-networked chargers
  • Proprietary connection standards

Analyze the value-adds and trade-offs offered by different vendors

Network deployment

  • Interoperability: avoid vendor lock-in and the potential for stranded assets, by working with vendors that use open standards.
  • Mobile chargers/charging: bringing the chargers to the vehicle can offset investments of large stationary charging infrastructure networks.
    In public, a mobile charging service can relieve employee range anxiety.
  • Energy storage: technologies to generate and store power can be used to avoid upgrades to facility infrastructure and speed charging
    infrastructure installation. They can bypass the need for a DSO/DNO to increase capacity into your facility or at the substation. It can also
    support the use of renewable energy.
  • Charging-as-a-Service (CaaS): upfront costs can be a problem. Some charging companies alleviate this pain point with “as-a-service”
    business models that spread upfront costs over an ownership period.

Network management

  • Networked chargers: ensure your technologies don’t fall behind by working with a charging management provider. These companies typically offer cloud-based software services that can connect your vehicles or chargers to ease transaction management, reduce energy costs and prevent maintenance issues among other services.
  • Remote maintenance/Automated technician servicing: a feature of some charge management platforms, software algorithms will automatically address charging equipment faults or signal and schedule local technicians to ensure charger downtime is minimized.

Energy management

  • Grid services: a common feature of management platforms to varying degrees, this can keep energy costs low by timing vehicle charging to coincide with low-cost electricity rates or grid balancing services. It can also be used to charge cars when renewable energy is being generated.
  • Bi-directional chargers/charging: bidirectional charging enables EVs to push power back onto the grid creating revenue generating opportunities in some markets.
  • Load balancing: this service uses vehicle and driver information to allocate electricity to the vehicles that need it most. It can be used to avoid additions to facility monthly demand charges and to increase the number of charging connections without increasing feed-in capacity.
  • Renewable energy: this decreases the carbon emissions of electric drive and can be used to reduce CPO operating costs via the generation and sale of carbon emissions credits to voluntary carbon markets.

Selecting chargers provided for the home or workplace by a charging manufacturer

There are two common types of chargers: Level 2 (L2) AC chargers and DC fast chargers (DCFC).

When choosing your charging technology, interoperability is critical to avoiding stranded investments.

Select chargers that use open standards. This will ensure your solution applies to multiple vehicle types and that you have multiple vendors.
Open standards for charger connections by region are shown in the table below.

An additional open standard to look for is the open charge point protocol (OCPP). Vendor adoption of this standard will allow you to change equipment management platforms.

 

Level 2 ACDCFC
Applicable use casesAllLast-mile delivery
Power (kW)3.7 – 2225-50
Time to charge assumed avg. daily travel (60km)45 minutes – 4 hours20 – 40 minutes
Total Deployment Cost (estimated)€5K – €15K€20K-€40K
Global charger connection standards*
SAE

IEC

GB/T

CCS

CHAdeMO

GB/T

North America
X
XX
Europe
X
XX
China
X
X
Japan
X
XX
India
X
X
South Korea
X
XX
*There are several open (non-proprietary) charging connection standards available globally. In some regions there may be more than one, this is common with DCFC

Selecting the best charging network manager and platform

Management platforms can be used to optimize the operation of your EV fleet.
Vendors of these platforms have varying capabilities which are described in the table below. These can save charging costs and potential administrative hassles.

CapabilityDescriptionUse Case
RoamingThe ability of an EV to charge from a charge-point outside its home networkAll
Load balancingAdjusting charging to avoid increases to facility demand charges, and to reduce facility circuitry capacity requirements.Shared company car Last-mile delivery
Grid balancingAdjusting charging in response to grid operator signals to reduce energy costs.Shared company car Last-mile delivery
Renewables integrationAdjusting charging in response to grid resource mix. Increases the GHG benefitAll
Charger monitoringManages user access, configures charging tariffs and limits, manages EV charging costs and payments.All
Fleet monitoringTracks vehicle use data like distance travelled and energy consumed. Such platforms are also commonly used ahead of EV deployments to assess opportunities for EV adoption.Shared company car Last-mile delivery

Selecting vendors for public charging services

Depending on use case it may be wise to partner with a public charging network provider and provide your employees with a “charging card.”

This is applicable to all use cases, but it may not be possible for some last-mile delivery vehicles with large batteries that cannot use current public charging options.

If the option is available, prioritize launching fleet electrification programs where public charging services are in place.

Some considerations for selecting a charging network provider to partner will include:

  • Geographic coverage
  • Connector standards and charging speeds
  • Pricing model (pay-as-you-go vs. subscription)
  • Ease of payment (RFID, contactless, other)

Management platforms can be used to optimize the operation of your EV fleet. Vendors of these platforms have varying capabilities which are described in the table below.

These can save charging costs and potential administrative hassles.

Examples of charging network providers
North AmericaPlugshare, AFDC
EuropeAA, ChargeMap, OpenChargeMap, Eco-movement
ChinaEV Charging Infrastructure Promotion Alliance
JapanCEV-PC
IndiaUpcoming
South KoreaEV

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