Watts up with Fleet?

Ernest Garcia, Director of Fleet Management & Business Systems, Gothic Landscape

With the current fuel pricing increases, managing fleets’ fuel costs have been more challenging than ever. More and more fleets are looking toward hybrid and electric units, especially if you are in California, where new ICE units will be phased out by 2035. Electrifying your Fleet comes with challenges, like, a charging solution, charging infrastructure (or lack thereof), vehicle efficiency, power, and performance. But the potential pros could outweigh the cons if you are able to find solutions to the previously mentioned challenges. 

Fill’r Up

There is no one-size-fits-all charging solution like some manufacturers, and 3rd parties would have you believe. Charging is difficult, but there are credible companies out there that I have found that make the journey less painless. We are currently in the beginning stages of a pilot program for an EV .50-ton truck and decided to take the employee home charge–reimbursement route. Future planning is a step we had to take early on; what size charger would we install in the employee’s home? How much is the company willing to contribute to the cost of the installation? How will we track the potential reimbursement for the employee? All questions we had to ask and find solutions for.

We chose the larger of the chargers available for the unit we purchased. We did this with sights set on potentially purchasing the extended range units down the road, which require a higher output charger. With this decision, we found the employee’s home electrical panel needed to be upgraded, which came with its costs. We determined an amount the company was willing to contribute to this because although it is a company vehicle, the charger stays with the home, and so does the electrical panel, which increases the value of the employee’s home. We partnered with a company called Qmerit, The leading provider of implementation solutions for EV charging, which helps us manage not only the coordination of the installation with qualified electricians but the cost limits to which we are willing to contribute to the installation. Qmerit coordinated the inspection, pulled permits (where necessary), and seamlessly installed the charging units at the employee’s home.

“There is no one-size-fits-all charging solution like some manufacturers, and 3rd parties would have you believe”

The vehicle manufacturer handled our reimbursement issues by providing a software solution that tracks how and when the EV is being charged. If the employee has a personal EV, the solution can identify the company vehicle and provide reimbursement data for only the company unit. The manufacturer provides a dashboard to track multiple units and their charging data so accurate monthly reimbursement information can be accessed by company location, region, etc. Although the manufacturer did state the feature was coming soon, a flaw in the solution is that the software/dashboard doesn’t auto-locate where the charger is and determine the kW rate for that area. The kW rate has to be entered in manually for each vehicle, which makes peak and non-peak charging times somewhat difficult to manage, depending on areas that fluctuate. 

Go the Distance

Although we are in the beginning stages of electric pickup trucks, planning for the long term still leaves many unanswered questions. How will these EV trucks hold up long-term? How will the range decrease over time? Will we see lower maintenance costs? And how will we charge an entire fleet once a bigger EV truck is available?

There are many challenges, but we are proud to be at the forefront of electrifying our Fleet and rolling out the beginning stages of a more sustainable environmental solution.