Charged With Change
Along with model availability and usage, operators must grapple with charging requirements. If vehicles return to a depot, for instance, the solution isn’t simply about wiring more sockets into an existing wall. Chargers need floor space. Then there are questions such as how many and what type of chargers are needed. And what is the lead time for installation and does the existing location meet physical space, safety and network considerations?
Many fleet operators will need to design strategies to deal with a mix of charging at a central location, at employees’ homes and at public charging stations. Additionally, they must consider who pays for the charging and how. While the majority of charging for private vehicles is expected to occur at home, the ability to support transition of business and Government fleets to BEVs will be dependent on new charging infrastructure.
It is a similar story in Europe. Our EY report authors estimate that 130 million EVs will hit the road in Europe by 2035, necessitating 65 million chargers. They also calculate that 85% of chargers will be residential, 6% in the workplace, 4% on public highway corridors and 5% at destinations, such as shopping malls.
Home charging for fleet vehicles brings new considerations, such as modifications to an employee’s property, and the inevitable question of what happens when an employee leaves their position.
The Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority’s (EECA) Low Emission Vehicles Contestable Fund goes someway to addressing this, with round two funding directed at accelerating deployment of public EV charging infrastructure such as hyper power chargers and destination chargers to support the transition to BEVs. While governments don’t need to do all the heavy lifting on investment and infrastructure costs, fostering a broad electrified transport ecosystem will give policy certainty to foundational investments for long-term business plans.