Charging electric cars in the fleet: How to make it work.

You always have to put these things into perspective. The daily reality for millions of drivers is not Hamburg-Milan, but apartment-office. On average, German drivers rack up 12,000 km to 14,000 km per year. That's arithmetically less than 250 km per week. This contrasts with the current range of vehicles: According to the WLTP standard, the top models that came onto the market in 2022 have a range of over 600 km, some even over 700 km. But even the current mid-range electric cars achieve ranges of around 400 km. This would be sufficient for most people to charge once a week. That doesn't sound like a problem to me. Of course there are always exceptions. It is understandable that extreme frequent drivers are more critical of the range and, above all, the charging speed compared to refueling with a combustion engine.

I wouldn't say it like that either. Look, the charming thing about electric cars is that electricity is available everywhere – not, like petrol or diesel, only at the gas station. In theory, this also gives you the option of recharging a bit at every stop-over. At home, at work, when shopping – there are already charging options in many places where the vehicle is parked. And there will be more and more.

Of course, charging speed also plays a key role. Sometimes a lot of range has to be put back into the car quickly. Charging from 10% remaining range to 80% battery charge level takes between half an hour and three quarters of an hour, depending on the battery temperature and the outside temperature. For the company car user who only drives a longer distance once a year when he goes on holiday with his family, this can be integrated into a normal lunch break.

For the field worker who drives hundreds of kilometers a day, these charging times certainly sound like a lot of time at first. It adds up - especially if you have to pull up several times a day. But that, too, will quickly be put into perspective. The range of the vehicles, their charging capacity, but also the capacities in the public charging network are constantly being developed. Today, a range of 100 kilometers can sometimes be recharged in just 5 minutes. I myself often drive very long distances in an electric car and it works just fine.

The currently available electric car models are more than sufficient for your daily commute to the office. But there are still a few basic conditions that need to be considered: The public charging infrastructure is not yet well developed everywhere - for example in rural areas. That's why it's best to have a wall box or some sort of charging infrastructure available either at your home or at least at work - or best in both places. Because these are the places with the longest parking times.

In large cities and urban agglomerations, where the electric car density is already higher, the public charging infrastructure is often quite good. It may even be feasible to solely rely on public charging stations in such areas. However, as a fleet manager, I would be conservative about taking this route. After all, it´s your job to ensure the mobility of the employees and as a corporate you cannot guarantee public infrastructure to work sufficiently. And you can make some good points for a wall box at home anyway - in Germany, employers may not only provide their employees with a charging device tax-free, but also reimburse the actual charging costs as tax-free reimbursement of expenses. In some federal states there are even subsidies for the installation of wall boxes. In Austria, the benefit in kind for charging at home has been dropped since this year. So there are some tax advantages for both, companies and drivers.

But back to charging at home. It is true that drivers, living with several parties in a rented house, may find it more difficult to install a wall box. Then sometimes the only option left is to charge electric vehicles on the company premises. Fleets that not only use electric vehicles to motivate employees, but also want to use them more intensively in their business processes - e.g. delivery vehicles - should always set up an adequate charging infrastructure on the company premises anyway. This is the only way to ensure that vehicles can be fully charged overnight and are ready for use at the start of work. The Austrian Post is a prime example of how this process can succeed.

With electric vehicles, a lot is changing in the fleet. Not only for fleet managers, but also for the drivers. Especially during the conversion phase, fleet managers should take a close look at how the drivers get along with the new technology and walk them through the process.

You should monitor the current charge levels (state of charge). In coordination with the drivers, plan charging ahead of time - especially when longer business trips are planned. Do your research and inform your drivers. What charging options are there along the daily routes? What charging power can they provide? Which charging stations should drivers prefer to use with regard of the prices? After all, there are a large number of providers and each has its own charging card. Third-party cards are accepted, but loading is sometimes at significantly higher prices. If certain routes are driven regularly, fixed routines can be established.

If you compare how much electricity costs and how much diesel or petrol, you can usually drive the same distance in an electric car cheaper today. But where there are already price differences from gas station to gas station, it is even more glaring from wallbox to fast charger, from electricity provider x to provider y. You can hardly operate your car cheaper in Germany today than with electricity from your home wall box. As a private customer you get the best conditions. It only gets even cheaper if you produce the electricity with your own solar system.

Unfortunately, there are no universal tariffs for the use of public charging stations. Although you may pay by credit card or app at many chargers, you only get the best conditions if you have the right charging card from the right provider. But then again nobody wants to drive around with umpteen cards. Especially since not all cards are free. There are also flat rates and frequent driver tariffs with a monthly basic price. You have to find a practical way - it's best to choose a card based on which providers have their charging stations along the daily routes. What I want to say with that: Unfortunately, it is not possible to say in general how to charge at the cheapest rate. That depends heavily on the individual driving profile. Here the fleet managers are asked to analyse, to obtain information and to instruct the drivers accordingly. It is best to use an FAQ to tell the drivers when and where to charge.

The learning curve is steep at first until you build up a certain wealth of experience yourself. But first of all, fleet managers should consistently stick to what has proven itself with combustion engines: don't just negotiate individually about vehicles, but define car policies. Electric cars should only be ordered if the necessary requirements are met. In any case, some models are better than others - in terms of equipment and price, size and payload, availability, charging speed and range.

And then, fortunately, you don't have to make all the experiences yourself - external providers can provide help and advice. At community4you we can offer a holistic package: knowledge transfer on the one hand and the digital tools on the other. Because without digital tools - it has to be said - you can no longer get the energy balances of the vehicles together. That's the other side, when we talk about the fact that electricity can be recharged anywhere. For this reason alone, the electrification and digitization of fleets necessarily belong together for me.

I would like to encourage companies to accept this change. The digitization of fleet management with suitable software saves time, effort and money. With the comm.fleet fleet management software, for example, we offer companies a central platform for all documents, data and processes in the fleet. Thanks to the comprehensive networking, you can generate meaningful reports fully automatically, identify cost drivers and determine usage profiles. These insights also help to make optimal use of electric vehicles and ultimately make the electrification of the fleet a success.