Fleet EV charging buyer's guide: How to make your fleet electrification a success
Fleet evolution
Climate Group’s EV100 initiative, a global effort to electrify some of the world’s largest fleets, reports a 57% jump in EV adoption from 2023 to 2024. Over the last 12 months, over 230,000 diesel cars and vans were transitioned out of their respective fleets, and replaced with electric vehicles. This pattern reflects a larger, national trend towards electrification. Whatever the reason—rising fuel costs, declining battery costs, greater charging infrastructure, or more affordable makes and models—fleet electrification is quickly gaining popularity.
Why electrify?
By as soon as 2025, the total cost of ownership (TCO) for battery electric vehicles (BEVs) will outperform internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles across all classes. And while gas and diesel are subject to varying costs, electricity is far less expensive than traditional fuel. For fleets, this means that total budgets become much more predictable, static, and consistent.
From a maintenance perspective, EVs present far less moving parts than an ICE, gas, or diesel engine. Long-term, general up-keep is therefore less expensive. Plus, reduced downtime from fueling creates more efficient operations.
Electric prices compared to gasoline and diesel
Source: Alternative Fuels Data Center
The average retail fuel prices in the United States, in dollars per gasoline gallon equivalent (GGE), illustrate that electricity prices are not only lower but much more stable than those of gasoline or diesel fuel.
What you should look for in your electrification partner
Choosing the right electrification partner can make or break your initiative. Knowing what questions to ask is the first step in finding the right partner.
01 Project scope
Think about your electrification goals and the best way to accomplish them.
QUESTIONS TO ASK
- Are you going to roll out your project all at once or in multiple phases?
- What’s your plan for scaling in the future? How can you plan ahead for it now?
- What’s your total budget for the project? Are you accounting for just hardware and installation, utility upgrades, or other costs as well?
- How many EVSEs are you looking to add, and what type (i.e., level 2, DCFC)?
- Who’s going to install the charging stations?
02 Charging experience
Consider what the charging experience will be for the end user as well your fleet operator, facilities team, property management company, and any other party involved in the business side of your charging operations.
QUESTIONS TO ASK
- Will your site offer public or private charging stations?
- Do you want to ensure that employees only charge corporate vehicles?
- If multiple use cases, how are you going to charge users for charging? Are you going to have one rate for everyone or multiple rates?
- Do you want to manage billing and reimbursement yourself, or outsource it?
- Who’s going to operate the charging stations once installed?
- How are you going to handle post-installation maintenance?
- What kind of data do you want to see from your charging operations?
03 Site location and architecture
Where you install your charging stations can impact your charging infrastructure design and total cost of deployment. The technology you choose will also determine the reliability of the charging experience.
QUESTIONS TO ASK
- Do you have a cellular signal at the desired EVSE install location?
- What kind of charging and networking equipment do you need to add, and where?
- Do you need a pedestal installation, and what type (i.e. dual or single)?
- What are your range expectations with each charge session (i.e. 10 miles)?
- What are your queue time expectations with each charge session (i.e. 1 hour)?
- What is the current available power voltage on-site?
- What is the approximate distance from the panel to the furthest EVSE installation?
- Is the installation environment indoors or outdoors?
- Please specify the quantity of EVSE group locations.
- How many floors total will have EVSEs installed?
- What is the circuit rating?
- How many EVSEs will be on each circuit?
- Do you need a utility upgrade?
04 Power
It’s important to perform a load study first, to understand how much available power you have for your project.
QUESTIONS TO ASK
- How much available power do you have?
- How can you maximize charging capacity using your existing power?
- How can you maximize charging capacity with minimal power and infrastructure upgrades?
- Is it possible to find extra power for your project? If so, where can this extra power come from?
- How can we get this extra power reallocated to EV charging?
05 Technology
Power alone is only part of the answer. There’s technology out there that can help you get more out of your power.
QUESTIONS TO ASK
- How will you respond to demand changes and peak loads?
- How much power will be dedicated to each port for EV charging?
- Are you willing to significantly invest in infrastructure to meet demand?
- How will you tackle 100% utilization?
- What type of network uplink will your EV charging solution require?
- How will your users initiate a charging session? Will they need to plug in to your corporate IT network to charge?
- How will you ensure that cars keep charging, even when the power goes out?
- Have you safeguarded against points of failure (i.e. spotty cell service, cloud outages)?
- How long will it take to restore power, or recover your EV charging solution when there are technical difficulties?
- Will you install third-party networking infrastructure or repeaters for communication?
06 Security
Make sure that all business practices are conducted in a secure manner, always—not just during the annual audit period.
QUESTIONS TO ASK
- Where and how is data stored?
- How will your organization handle risk management?
- Will you have a separate, in-house IT team handle this?
- Is your organization looking to employ a “continuous monitoring” approach?
- Is SOC 2 compliance, or other verified security measures important to you?
07 Project management
Your organization may have unique needs not able to be fulfilled by every vendor on the market. Custom solutions, personalized products, and tailored messaging may be important to you.
QUESTIONS TO ASK
- Does your vendor have specialized experience in the fleet space?
- Does your vendor provide both hardware and software?
- How many vendors do you want to work for installation, maintenance, and billing?
- Will your vendor(s) manage the entire project, from start to finish?
- Can your vendor create custom solutions for your organization, quickly and inexpensively?
- Will your vendor onboard you and your employees (i.e. drivers, fleet managers, etc.)?
- Will your vendor provide creative solutions for other, related business problems?
08 Customer success
The availability and responsiveness of your vendor’s customer care team can make or break the success of your project during and after implementation.
QUESTIONS TO ASK
- How are your vendor’s customer care team and process structured?
- Will you have a dedicated customer success representative?
- How closely will they keep you informed about the progress of your project?
- How will you contact customer care when you need it?
- How responsive is the customer care team?
