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Electrifying the UK under spotlight with Global Fleet Advisory Board – Global Fleet


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As the UK’s fleet sector steps up to the electric gas pedal – electric cars accounted for 25.5% of the UK market in December – what lessons can be learned from early adopters?

Car team Editor Mike Antich brought together an online group of fleet managers – the Global Fleet Advisory Board that works with more than 125,000 vehicles globally – to discuss some of the issues they are facing. .

As the moderator of the meeting, Antich opened the proceedings by asking what was the driving force behind the entry of the tram fleet in the UK?

“Without a doubt, it was the tax treatment that encouraged the acceptance of the fleet,” said AFP’s Lightbody. “The system allows me to have a £70,000 car driving my car for less than the cost of going to a Starbucks every day. Parallel to this is the strong decarbonization movement among businesses and electric fleets that plays a strong role in sustainability as ESG (environmental, social and governance) considerations become increasingly important. should be important. ”

Keep the battery always full

The issue of toll infrastructure remains a hot topic in the UK and it is one the team is keen to explore. Is this still an issue in the UK?

Lightbody says that while infrastructure availability issues remain, he believes that throughout 2022, many of these drawbacks will be addressed as new EV hubs open at a rapid pace. fast. This also includes the rapid replacement of old and poorly maintained chargers on major UK motorways with new fast and ultrafast chargers thanks to new owner GRIDSERVE which has acquired the Ecotricity Electric network Highway.

An example of this rapid change in infrastructure is the fuel company Shell, which has just replaced all of its petrol pumps from a single location in the US. West of London and install nine high-power, ultra-fast 175kW charging points.

Who pays for home chargers?

At this point, the discussion turns to providing home chargers for employees switching to electric vehicles and whether they should be provided by the company.

From a UK perspective, Lightbody says the savings from the company’s car tax will pay for the charger’s installation within months. “If you can save £500 a month in taxes, you’ll make it work for you,” he added, but said the alternative is for eLCVs, where it’s worth paying the installation costs. as there is little benefit to the van driver”.

Joe Lukacs, global director of fleet operations at Sherwin-Williams, a paint supply company, said the business paid to install chargers at home as a sunk cost. While Mark Peabody, global fleet manager for multinational 3M Corporation, says that if an employee leaves within a certain time frame, there is a percentage of the withdrawal.

Jonathan Kamanns, vice president of fleet and driver safety at Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals, added that his company is counting the cost of the EV charger as part of the rental cost in the US, but not the cost of installation. put reality. Their electrification initiative is to have 50% of the fleet electrified by 2030, starting with six executive cars in the US. “They set the tone and pace for the organization,” he believes.

3M’s Peabody has just begun rolling out its electrification program in Central Europe, with the fleet as part of a strategic plan in the company’s sustainability roadmap. The new policy only allows users to choose between petrol, hybrid (but not plug-in) or pure electric vehicles.

“Our sustainability is very broad, and while diesels are great for reducing CO2, they have other pollutants that we are not very comfortable with. So that’s a much simpler approach. ”

Overall, the Global Fleet Advisory Board considers home chargers to be part of the cost of electrification, and in the long run, it’s a fairly inexpensive investment in employees over the life of the product.

And what about electricity costs?

Moving on to reimbursement for used electricity, AFP vice-president Stewart Lightbody said the UK was using the agreed-upon pence per mile for business mileage reimbursement, despite discussions with the UK Government There is ongoing work on whether the country can afford larger battery-powered electric vehicles. – typically a fleet of cars.

“It’s harder with commercial vehicles, and some companies now pay utility companies directly for the cost of charging their trucks at home,” he added.

Electric vehicle driver introduction

Continuing the discussion, the moderator asked Lightbody how drivers get on their cars and how this is being addressed in the UK.

“That’s a problem,” Lightbody admitted. “There is a reliance on vehicle handovers to explain the differences, especially for trucks and their possibly unfamiliar transmission characteristics. There is also a request explaining how to use the charger network. So it’s not always optimal.”

Tips for starting electrification

Finally, the moderator asked Lightbody what advice he has for fleet managers facing the starting point of fleet electrification.

“I recommend picking matches that you can win. Reach out to your supporters first as they will happily explain the benefits of EVs to colleagues. So that’s the first thing to understand: you can’t do everything at once.

“The second is to use telemetry to understand how far your car is going. With this information, you can counter any driver resistance to range anxiety – both perceived and actual.

“Lastly, I’d say tackle your fleet coverage – there’s a degree of inconsistency in their approach to electric vehicles, with higher costs leading to premium charging . But all the data I have seen shows this is not the case. For a variety of reasons, people drive electric vehicles differently. And lower costs should be reflected in lower premiums. ”

Mike Antich closed by thanking everyone who participated in the topic that will become a top topic for fleet managers in the years to come and one that the board will return to in the future. .

Originally posted on Global Fleet Management



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