EV infrastructure challenges continue to be a concern for many organisations. For instance, fleets where vehicles are on the road for 12 to 13 hours per day may be handed off between drivers – this has the potential to represent one of the most difficult electrification challenges for businesses. This is because the majority of public charging stations were designed with passenger cars in mind, not long-wheelbase vans or HGVs, meaning they aren’t a completely reliable source for fleet operators. Additionally, many commercial vehicles struggle to physically access many of these chargers due to tight layouts, incompatible plug locations or height restrictions. Another key consideration for many: does the availability and speed of chargers align with a vehicle’s operational schedule? This can have a detrimental effect, with fleet downtime potentially increasing and cost savings possibly eroding.

To overcome these challenges, route planning and optimisation tools can help fleets plan smarter by helping identify which depots are best suited for fast charging, evaluate whether enroute top-up charging is feasible during deliveries and model how to stagger charging sessions throughout the day to avoid peak grid demand. It’s also important to note that faster chargers aren’t always the magic bullet to fix a problem that people think. This is because most vehicles that operate long shifts only return to a depot for a brief period, which means the charger won’t physically be able to deliver sufficient charge to get it to its next destination – no matter how fast it is.

These operational nuances make planning critical. Just one wrong move could mean a lot of operational downtime and significantly impact the business profits – not to mention customer satisfaction. Furthermore, deliveries and the types of goods being delivered can be planned around the fleet available. Some goods might be better suited to EVs over internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles, for example.