Peter McDonald
Want to know how to reduce the running costs of your EV fleet? Our man from Ohme has some suggestions
With the theme of this issue referring to the economics of switching a fleet to EV, you might expect it to be an almost foregone conclusion.
Yes, in terms of running costs, switching any fleet, even a normally traditional one, to EVs can have plenty of savings, as many fleet managers have already found.
But there are savings and there are savings. A straight switch from ICE vehicles to EVs will automatically save a fleet manager a substantial amount, but it’s by no means a simple switch and not many are also aware of the other potential cost-saving avenues open to them.
The first step for any fleet manager has to be to motivate their drivers to have a charger fitted at home. While at first that may seem like an expensive process, the reality is that cost will soon be outweighed by your savings.
Why? The simplest answers are always the easiest ones and the fact is with any EV charging, compared to public chargers, charging an EV at home will always be the cheapest option.
The price per kWh of a typical rapid charging option is, on average, more than double the current domestic standard variable tariff of 29p.
So if your drivers can charge their vehicles at home and start their working days with a full battery then you’re already making savings. The same goes at the end of the day too. If a driver knows they can charge at home and isn’t having to hunt for a charging station at the end of a shift, it adds valuable time to their day. Even one extra job or delivery each day as a result of those saved hours will soon add up.
Plus, it’s not just the cost of charging or the actual time spent at public chargers, it’s also the loss of time driving, and looking for those chargers too. It’s no exaggeration to say that the gain in employee time alone by having a home charger could easily even be greater than the charging savings.
The first step for any fleet manager has to be to motivate their drivers to have a charger fitted at home
Ohme’s online portal also gives fleet operators access to an unrivalled level of in-depth knowledge and information on the charging habits of their drivers. This is the case both in terms of cost savings and also CO₂ savings – a valuable asset for meeting corporate sustainability targets. That level of data will give fleet operators more detailed information on the usage of their vehicles and provide an unparalleled level of understanding compared to an ICE vehicle.
Those cost savings get better if drivers want to switch to one of the smart electricity tariffs available too. These can lower electricity prices from 29p/kWh to just 7.5p/kWh, with an obvious knock-on saving to the fleet operator. However, in the same way that not all electric vehicles are universal, neither are EV chargers. So you want to choose a charger for your fleet that is compatible with as many energy tariffs and as many cars as possible.
Clearly, fleet operators can’t dictate to an employee their choice of domestic electricity tariff, but if that same employee has another EV in the household (perhaps benefiting from the fitment of a home charger through work) and then chooses to switch to a lower tariff, then the company will also benefit.
And remember too, this is just the icing on the cake – as any fleet using home charging will already be saving on the standard variable tariff compared to the alternative cost of public rapid charging.
Provision of home charging isn’t without challenges, of course, whether it’s for different types of fleets and also other issues such as shift working and return-to-depot policies, which may need to change, before you even touch on grey fleets or salary sacrifice schemes.
Those fleets will undoubtedly need to be more creative with their solutions, but as more and more fleet managers switch to electric, so more and more of these issues are being resolved.
Peter McDonald is mobility director at Ohme. Prior to his current role, he spent two decades working for automotive manufacturers including Nissan, SEAT and the wider Volkswagen Group.
