Fleet sustainability started long before the EV
Sustainability has long been a core part of great fleet management, says Simon Staton, client management director, Venson Automotive Solutions.
Fleet sustainability started long before the EV
Sustainability has long been a core part of great fleet management, says Simon Staton, client management director, Venson Automotive Solutions.
Achieving a sustainable fleet is about much more than replacing petrol and diesel vehicles with EVs. As 2035 creeps closer, electrification will undoubtedly play an increasingly significant role. The most effective sustainability strategies are nothing new though and have always taken a whole-life, whole-fleet and common-sense approach.
Of course, government targets have sharpened the fleet industry’s sustainability senses, but operational efficiency and sustainability have co-existed for years. Fleets that carefully look at which vehicles are needed in the first place, what they are used for, how they are powered, how efficiently they are used and driven, and how their useful life can be maximised, have always benefited. What is good for fleet efficiency is often good for sustainability too.
Matching the powertrain to the job
When striving to meet sustainability targets, though, it is worth remembering that not all fleet roles are suitable for EVs. Selecting the right powertrain begins with understanding the operational requirement. The lowest-emission vehicle is only a successful fleet vehicle if it can actually do the job. For some fleets and duty cycles, battery electric is the obvious choice. In other commercial vehicle applications, however, payload, mileage and charging requirements may mean the transition has to be more gradual or involve other lower-carbon technologies. Fleet operators therefore need to consider whole-life cost, infrastructure and real-world usage rather than adopting a one-size-fits-all powertrain policy.
Where EVs are suitable, the transition needs to be treated as an operational change, not just a procurement exercise. Charging provision, driver education, management buy-in and careful monitoring will all influence whether the change to EV delivers the environmental and financial benefits expected. As with any major change, starting with a pilot involving a representative group of vehicles and drivers can help identify practical issues before a wider rollout.
Taking a bird’s eye view of the fleet
Reducing the environmental impact of a fleet also needs a top-down examination of its current usage. Vehicle utilisation should always be examined as a smaller, properly utilised fleet is likely to have a lower environmental footprint than maintaining vehicles that spend much of their time sitting underused.
Rightsizing a fleet can deliver significant environmental and financial benefits. In fact, working with a customer, Venson identified opportunities to change the make-up of their fleet, replacing some of the larger vans with smaller, more fit-for-purpose models. This reduced acquisition and operating costs by 30%, or around £200,000 a year, while the reduction in vehicle numbers, vehicle size and fuel use also lowered the organisation’s carbon footprint.
Whole-life impacts
Selecting the right vehicle and drivetrain for the job is only part of the story. How a vehicle is looked after can make a huge difference to sustainability. For example, improving driver behaviour can reap repeated environmental and operational benefits. Smooth acceleration and braking, sensible speeds, avoiding unnecessary idling and congestion, and maintaining correct tyre pressures all reduce wasted energy. They can also reduce wear on brakes, tyres, transmissions and other components, meaning fewer replacement parts, less downtime and potentially a longer useful life for the vehicle.
Effective maintenance management should be an integral part of any fleet sustainability strategy. Keeping tyres correctly inflated and vehicles properly serviced helps them operate efficiently, while proactive maintenance can prevent smaller defects developing into larger repairs.
Reuse, repurpose
Fleet sustainability is very much about getting maximum value from existing resources, rather than automatically replacing them, and commercial vehicle equipment is a key area where fleets can embrace the principles of the circular economy.
Rather than automatically replacing racking and other fit-out equipment every time a van is renewed, fleet operators can consider whether those assets could safely be refurbished and transferred to the replacement vehicle. Some commercial vehicle equipment can have a useful life of up to 10 years, so designing for reuse can reduce both cost and the volume of material being replaced unnecessarily. Equally, the use of recycled and green parts for non-safety-related repairs is another area to focus on when considering the SMR and accident repair regimes for a fleet.
Where sustainability and efficiency meet
Ultimately, the biggest eco gains often come when sustainability and operational efficiency are treated as the same objective. After all, fewer unnecessary journeys, better utilised and correctly specified vehicles, more efficient driving, proactive maintenance, reuse of serviceable equipment and a measured transition to lower-emission powertrains can all reinforce one another. Crucially, those measures which cut carbon can also cut fuel use, wear, downtime and whole-life costs.
Sustainability is nothing new. Great fleet operators have been doing it for years, it is not a recent tick-box add-on. Done properly, it is simply good fleet management.
