Adding electric vehicles (EVs) to a fleet comes with a unique set of challenges for every business.
Even though there is growing evidence that EVs have the potential to lower emissions, increase efficiency, and lower operating costs, fleet managers are still being held back by questions about charging infrastructure, cost, driver training, and more.
Here, we’ll look at the top five challenges for fleet managers considering the EV transition and some solutions to help with the EV journey.
Top challenges
1. Infrastructure challenges
One of the biggest anticipated challenges is the need for charging infrastructure. Many fleet owners worry that the current charging infrastructure is insufficient to meet the needs of larger fleets.
Additionally, some fleet owners are concerned that the charging times for EVs are longer than the time it takes to refuel an internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicle, which may cause delays in operations or frustration among drivers.
The good news is there’s no need to worry about where to charge in New Zealand. ChargeNet has over 280 on-road charge points across New Zealand, and more are being installed throughout 2023, so drivers are always within reach of their next recharge.
ChargeNet also offers hyper-rapid charging stations, the fastest publicly available EV chargers in New Zealand. For some vehicles, the 300kW hyper-rapid charging stations can add up to 400 km range in 15 minutes.
For extra-long trips, apps like ChargeNet can help drivers plan and plot charging sites across New Zealand.
2. Range limitations
Range anxiety continues to be one of the top barriers to EV adoption amongst business fleets, especially for those with vehicles that need to travel long distances.
The fear is a hangover from the early days of EVs, where early models had a bad reputation for poor mileage range between charges.
However, EV and battery technology have come on in leaps and bounds since then, and EV range has improved significantly over the last few years. Many models now offer a range between 400 km to 500 km on a single charge, meaning they can easily fit the bill for most light-duty commercial and passenger fleets.
As with ICE vehicles, choosing the right vehicle for the job and conditions is essential, as an EV’s usable range can be affected by temperature, payload, and speed.
Your drivers are also crucial to getting the best from your EVs. A smooth driving style without harsh acceleration and braking contributes to better energy efficiency and longer ranges.
Train your drivers to use the vehicle’s regenerative braking system, which leverages the energy-recovering function when coming to a stop so that the driver sends the most power back to the batteries when decelerating, increasing its range.
Find out more about transitioning your fleet over to EV and how we can help you.