TRANSITION TO EV
Nice and smooth
Ru Lyon Taylor, chief customer officer at Lightfoot believes moving people into EVs shouldn’t be a complicated process for drivers
A smooth transition to an EV fleet begins with engaged, well-supported drivers. This is such an important point to recognise because without driver buy-in, adoption will be slow.
To begin the journey, businesses need to communicate clearly with their drivers and address common concerns early on, such as range anxiety, charging logistics and vehicle performance. Our experience of working with some of the largest fleets in the country has revealed that a lot of misconceptions can be easily addressed by having a simple conversation, either one-on-one or in special driver education sessions.
One of the key issues to arise from these conversations is inevitably concerns about charging the vehicle – and this is another key stage on the journey. There’s no point committing to taking on electric vehicles for your fleet if you haven’t given consideration to charging infrastructure.
Through our advanced reporting, our in-cab coaching and gamification solution allows us to show fleet managers how every vehicle is used day-to-day. From the daily mileage and journey patterns to charging habits and driving efficiency, this data creates a clear picture of real-world fleet operations.
“By removing barriers, providing training and leveraging real-time insights, fleets can make the switch to electric vehicles with minimal disruption”
With these insights, businesses can make informed decisions about which vehicles are ready to switch to electric, removing any guesswork and building confidence in their transition strategy. It also gives fleet managers a way to engage sceptical drivers, showing them that electrification is not only possible, but a practical solution.
Ensuring drivers have access to a reliable mix of home, workplace and public charging points is essential – and applying straightforward home charging reimbursement policies removes any financial barriers to adoption.
Once the electric vehicles are on fleet, a business must also implement a structured training plan on the key EV driving techniques required, such as regenerative braking and charge planning.
Our in-cab devices provide real-time visual and verbal feedback to encourage smoother driving and improve EV efficiency and, through the use of gamification – such as Lightfoot’s rewards-based technology, leaderboards and competitions – incentivise engagement.
By removing barriers, providing training and leveraging real-time insights, fleets can make the switch to electric vehicles with minimal disruption.
