VEV calls for data-led council fleet EV planning

Local authorities shifting their fleets to EVs could significantly reduce the costs and risks involved by taking a more data-led approach to early planning.

That’s according to EV charging management company VEV, which warned that inefficiencies and poor planning could counteract the potential cost savings involved in electrification.

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The firm said it had analysed operational data from more than 100,000 commercial vehicles across a range of fleet environments, and found that many electrification programmes stalled not because of vehicle technology, but due to poor planning for infrastructure, energy demand and grid capacity.

VEV said its analysis showed early-stage analytics could reduce the cost of grid upgrades by up to 70%, and find energy savings of up to 20% via charging strategy optimisation.

George Hobbs, data lead at VEV, said: “Most fleets don’t fail at electrification because of technology – they fail because they don’t start in the right way.

“Using real-world operational data allows us to remove uncertainty, demonstrate viability, and build a clear, investable roadmap that allows operators to scale with confidence.”

Savings delivered for council fleet electrification

VEV said an example of its approach working in practice was a project with Derby City Council’s municipal waste fleet, where it worked in partnership with Whitespace to develop an electrification roadmap and cost model using live operational and telematics data.

According to VEV, the work identified immediate optimisation opportunities and supported a funding application to the UK’s Depot Charging Scheme, with the financial impact estimated at up to ten times the initial consultancy investment.

VEV said that the need for early planning was being intensified by increasing lead times for grid connections. It said that a recent £1 billion UK Government funding package for cleaner transport would intensify competition for both funding and grid capacity.