The Masterclass Conference sessions once again proved a highly popular element of the Great British Fleet Event 2024. John Challen reports back on the Electric Vehicles session – and its main disclosures for fleets.

As one of the five different subjects at the GBFE Masterclass – alongside Fleet Management, Mobility and Logistics, Sustainability, and the Future of Fleet – electric vehicles was always going to attract a big crowd.

And so it proved as three expert speakers presented on different aspects on the shift to battery electric vehicles.

Power Talker

First up was Maria Bengtsson, the UK and Ireland electric vehicle lead at EY UK. She looked at fleet electrification from an energy point of view and the process of procuring energy, as opposed to diesel and petrol. She acknowledged there were differences between the two, such as the ability to store power in the same way as fuel as well as the logistics when it comes to purchasing.

Maria Bengtsson, UK and Ireland EV lead at EY UK, looked at fleet electrification from an energy point of view and the process of procuring energy

Wholesale power prices since 2019 were also discussed, Bengtsson acknowledging that as the main cost faced in the procurement process. “There has been a lot of volatility since 2019 and no-one could have forecast what happened, which made setting power prices much more difficult,” she reasoned.

She covered the different ways of approaching the market, modelling the levelled cost of electricity. The results, said Bengtsson, showed that only investing in energy storage does not improve a business – other steps need to be considered and taken. On the subject of wind and solar, she admitted there were difficulties and also big costs involved although realised that investment in these power sources may work for some businesses. “There are a lot of options available,” she outlined.

Question Master

Next up was returning speaker Dan Lawrence-Eyre, the co-founder and COO of Diode. He spoke about how fleet managers could make a more informed decision, based around a set of 21 questions that Diode advised asking when considering the transition to electric.

“The first questions are ‘What is the EV readiness of my fleet?’ and ‘What’s the interest in EVs with my employees?’,” explained Lawrence-Eyre.

Dan Lawrence-Eyre, co-founder and COO of Diode, outlined a list of 21 questions that fleets can use to check out EV readiness

Further questions were based around workplace charging – particularly how many points should be installed. The danger, warned Lawrence-Eyre, was not planning for the future or understanding what was going to futureproof the business, which could cause mistakes being made in the medium and long term. “Questions around savings also need to be asked – both in terms of money, but also fleet emissions,” he stated.

Within the 21 questions are a set tailored to individual drivers, because each one is different and the vehicle they are driving could change on an almost daily basis. “The questions might go into great detail, but they are important to get a full understanding of how fleet efficiency can be improved,” explained Lawrence-Eyre.

The Diode man concluded by saying the easiest way to get the answers is through advanced data analysis, such as telematics (for vehicles), or external or employee data (for drivers). It is something his company offers, enabling the required facts and figures to be collated quickly and easily, he told the audience.

Words from Westminster

For a different perspective on proceedings, the final speaker in the session was Tommi Salminen, vehicle policy advisor at the Department for Transport’s Office for Zero Emission Vehicles (OZEV). He used his time to explain to the audience what the Government was doing to support fleets in the transition to electric vehicles.

Tommi Salminen, vehicle policy advisor at the Department for Transport’s Office for Zero Emission Vehicles (OZEV), spoken on government measures to support fleets with the EV transition

“The aims of OZEV are tackle emissions, improve air quality and help people transition to EVs,” he explained. “For example, the Government has spent more than £2bn in the transition by offsetting higher upfront costs and accelerating the rapid charger rollout.”

The support also covers plug-in hybrid grants and tax measures, such as the extension of the BiK take rates until 2028, he added. In addition, he mentioned the rapid charging fund (RCF) and infrastructure schemes such as the Local EV Infrastructure (LEVI) fund and the On-Street Residential Chargepoint Scheme (ORCS). He concluded by talking about the work that has been done – and needs to be done – around other areas such as policy, guidance and regulations.

The three different presentations offered a broad perspective of where the industry is, and many members of the audience were reassured that the fleet market is on the right path and that the support that is available to them will help make the transition to EV that bit easier than they might have thought before GBFE!