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How to Transition Your Fleet to Electric Vehicles
Looking ahead, electric vehicles are on their way to becoming more mainstream with car owners and organizations shifting to alternative fuel vehicles. With commercial EV sales growing due to broader availability, better affordability, and backing from government in the US, an electric fleet has never been easier.
Most fleets are looking into how they can adapt to this future. While there are many opportunities and benefits from making the switch, the process of how to implement electrification is crucial. Assessing the wide array of components such as infrastructure and workforce training plays an important role to ensure organizations have the foundation and talent ready to run the fleet. As well as the development of new strategies needed to operate an electric fleet.
What is Fleet Electrification?
Fleet Electrification is the implementation of technologies that meet current and future needs to help reduce environmental impacts from the use of carbon-based fuels by fleets. With fuel costs on the rise and more push to target lower emissions, the switch from gas-powered vehicles to electric continues to make progress. The transition to electric power may lead to a great deal of benefits for both public and private fleets. With more fleet managers introducing electric vehicles into their fleets, an upcoming trend may be for vehicle fleet operators to be enthusiastic buyers of EVs.
Benefits of an Electric Vehicle Fleet
An Electric Vehicle Fleet can help your business operations in several ways:
Alternative fuel benefits
Adapting to alternative power sources are one of the biggest reasons why fleets are switching to electric. Fleets can eliminate tail pipe emissions by converting to all-electric vehicles that use an alternative power source.
Lower operational costs
Electric vehicle fleet management can help make your operational costs lower with fuel as one of the biggest expenses for any fleet. Unlike gas or diesel, electric fleets can be less expensive source of energy.[[3577]]
Less fleet maintenance needed
Electric vehicles can be significantly less expensive to maintain than gas-powered vehicles due to their fewer moving parts. Fewer components that require regular maintenance can result in longer lifespan. Additionally, with less time maintaining parts means less downtime and more time out on the roads, allowing businesses to be more productive.
Setting up EV Charging Infrastructure
Electric vehicles and charging go hand-in-hand with new infrastructure becoming more widely available. It is possible to charge an electric vehicle at various locations such as public charging stations, and homes. With new data and monitoring systems to help fleet operations plan usage and duty cycles, it can be easier to optimize energy costs and how much energy is available for your fleet.
Charging at a public station is as simple as charging any other vehicle. After swiping your credit card or using a mobile app, all that's left to do is to plug-in the charging cable to the EV's charging port [[153]]. For at home charging, a charging cable that is standard with EV's can be used with its Level 1 charging port. Level 2 charging, is faster and compatible with all plug-in vehicles, but will require specialty equipment that is professionally installed. [[3447]]
The charging process may differ based on the make and model of the electric vehicle due to the manufacturer-specific inlets on most EVs and the type of connector that needs to be used in order to charge it correctly.
Why EV Charging infrastructure is Important
For EVs to properly be adopted into fleet operations, good charging infrastructure will be a critical enabling factor. Charging strategy requires the consideration of all the factors which include charging costs, equipment, the variety and amount of chargers, as well as fleet charging management.
This way, charging needs can be identified based on route plans and fleets can be well-equipped to avoid battery depletion. Without a strategic deployment of EV charging infrastructure focused on the operator's needs, a detailed assessment of the charging modes, and variety of charging stations, availability could become an issue. Routing systems integrated with software can provide an advantage for tracking vehicles and which ones require charging according to need can keep operations running smoothly.
These are a few important considerations for charging infrastructure that will help any organization reinforce new methods that could play a major role in cutting operational costs. EV charging infrastructure is the foundation that allows electric fleets to deploy successfully. With robust infrastructure that electric fleets need to operate, challenges that could arise in route planning, monitoring and driving optimization could be avoided.
Review Budget and Financial Incentives
Depending on the purpose of your purchase and where you live, you may qualify for potential state and local incentives and rebates when you opt for an electric vehicle over a gas-powered vehicle. Having a lower maintenance cost and the convenience of charging at home as well as at public charging stations are also advantages to electric vehicles in the long run. Additionally, apart from zero emissions, and fewer moving parts than any gas-powered vehicle, you can ensure that oil changes and tune-ups are a thing of the past. [[106]]
EV Incentives & Rebates
By purchasing an electric vehicle, you may be eligible to receive incentives and rebates for EV's depending on the size of the vehicle and battery capacity. [[54]]
Workforce Training
When adopting electric vehicle fleets, skills training plays a crucial role in successful implementation. Operators should be mindful that driving an electric vehicle is still different than driving one that's gas-motored, and be advised how to manage battery usage and how to optimize performance. For instance, developing a route plan in advance is an efficient way to save battery power and improve range. Additionally, other methods on battery drainage prevention and how to use regenerative braking systems are key to reduce battery's charge loss.
Nissan Electric Vehicles for Fleets & Small Businesses
Nissan LEAF
The Nissan LEAF is an all-electric vehicle that offers instant acceleration, an impressive range, and effortless handling. Charging made fast and easy with innovative tools that could help stretch your miles and battery. [[1628]]
Nissan ARIYA
Drive like never before with the Nissan Ariya. This all-electric crossover is ready to perform in all conditions with e-4ORCE AWD. While some drivers are hesitant to dive into the world of electric vehicles due to their limited range, the 2023 Nissan Ariya has it all figured out. It offers an impressive range and options between batteries and drivetrains. [[1624]] [[1461]]
