{"id":12289,"date":"2021-09-06T17:02:40","date_gmt":"2021-09-06T15:02:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/?p=12289"},"modified":"2021-09-06T17:02:40","modified_gmt":"2021-09-06T15:02:40","slug":"electrification-21","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/2021\/09\/06\/electrification-21\/","title":{"rendered":"The \u2018right time\u2019 for fleet electrification"},"content":{"rendered":"

The future of EVs is not one-size-fits-all, according to industry experts at ACT Expo 2021 in Long Beach. But the foundation for moving forward in the EV space will rely heavily on partnerships and planning ahead.<\/span><\/p>\n

LONG BEACH, California \u2014 At the last in-person Advanced Clean Transportation Expo event in 2019, attendees wondered: Would electric trucks actually become a reality? Fast forward two years\u2014and a global pandemic later.<\/span><\/p>\n

Even amid the COVID-19 pandemic and all the challenges that come along with it, commercial electric vehicles seem to be ramping up in production. And as Michael Roeth, executive director of the North American Council for Freight Efficiency<\/a>, pointed out during this year\u2019s ACT Expo here in Long Beach, the industry is in the midst of the adoption curve of electric trucks. \u201cIt is not a matter of if, it\u2019s when,\u201d he said.<\/span><\/p>\n

During an Aug. 30 battery-electric technology workshop, Ameya Jathar, senior director of engineering, Electric Vehicles, Meritor<\/a>, explained that amid this adoption curve, hesitancies still loom, and fleets ask every day whether they should wait until the technology or time is right to electrify their vehicles. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAs fleets think about timing of technology, if you wait for the perfect time\u2014it\u2019s kind of like if you wait for the perfect time to have a baby, then no one will ever have a baby\u2014there is no perfect time,\u201d explained Mike Rowand, director, Engineering & Technical Services, eTransEnergy<\/a>. \u201cBut there is that crawl, walk, run piece to it. Technology maturity is one thing. Ultimately, the technology part of this is the easiest, but there are a lot of operational questions, and vehicle spec questions as well.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

In today\u2019s current environment, one of those operational questions is whether or not the supply chain is ready for electric trucks.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cSupply chain challenges<\/a> are real,\u201d noted Jathar. \u201cWe are specifically focusing on having that service network set up and ready. Challenges will come from what the supply chain will and will not release, and that is something that is happening at the global level. I don\u2019t think our industry is unique from what any other industry is experiencing.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Rowand added that it\u2019s the supply chain on infrastructure as well. Because of longer lead times, he suggested that fleets map out their charging infrastructure plans well before their EV orders arrive.<\/span><\/p>\n

The key, according to Meritor\u2019s Jathar, is for fleets to start small and slow from each location or depot perspective. He suggested they begin electrifying vehicles first for their known short routes, and adding routes every few months as they develop charging infrastructure and understand the use case of their electric vehicles.<\/span><\/p>\n

Investment and opportunity<\/span><\/h3>\n

The combination of regulatory efforts in California and other states, as well as various organizations\u2019 zero-emission goals, has catapulted the market for clean fleet vehicles. Today, dozens of startups and upfitters join global OEMs to offer fleets more choices to propel EV growth.<\/span><\/p>\n

During an Aug. 30 ACT Expo Investor Summit session, Thomas Healy, founder and CEO of Hyliion<\/a>, pointed out that there are more than 20 special purpose acquisition companies (SPACs) in the market for electric vehicles. Excitement in the space really started to ramp up after Tesla announced the launch of its Class 8 electric truck<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Just last year, Hyliion, which provides Class 8 trucks with hybrid renewable natural gas and fully electric drivetrain architecture, announced its plans to go public via a merger with Tortoise Acquisition Corp., a publicly-traded SPAC.<\/span><\/p>\n

Gary Horvat, VP of eMobility, Navistar,<\/a> noted that although there is excitement around EVs, fleet interest today is beginning to pique because batteries are much less expensive than they used to be. \u201cTotal cost of ownership turns the dial to make an electric vehicle more beneficial than a diesel,\u201d Horvat explained.<\/span><\/p>\n

However, Ryan Cech, head of M&A for XL Fleet<\/a>, said one of the biggest barriers to EV conversion is charging infrastructure.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe hear from our fleet customers, ‘how do I charge, where do I charge, how much is it going to cost me? How much electricity do I need? Is my electricity bill going to spike,’\u201d Cech explained. He added that the company\u2019s XL Grid business<\/a> was launched to help fleets solve those charging infrastructure problems.<\/span><\/p>\n

When it comes to laying the foundation for the future and moving forward in the EV space, both startups and established OEMs are relying on partnerships and collaborations. Dan Tram, investment director, Volvo Group Venture Capital<\/a>, said Volvo Group, through partnerships, mergers and acquisitions, and research and development, is able to help the needs of customers today and in the future.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe talk to clients across different stages to understand what is going on and to pair what we know eternally with what we know internally as experts,\u201d Tram said. \u201cWhere is the future going? It\u2019s not one-size-fits-all.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

A challenge for established OEMs, Navistar\u2019s Horvat noted, is combining the two worlds. Much of Navistar\u2019s revenue today comes from service parts for diesel engines.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cSo, how are you going to replace that when going to electric,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s a challenge because you basically have to do both and part of it is how do you do your lifecycle with your current product as opposed to finding the money to do the new stuff.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt really takes a total company rowing the same way and knowing that if we don\u2019t do that, we will be obsolete,\u201d Horvat added. \u201cYou have to make the conscious investment to do that and use similar technology. When we create a new platform, we design it to make sure an EV can use it and a diesel can go down the same production line. We try to future-proof production so either can go, and then the transition is pretty easy. It\u2019s smart manufacturing, smart implementation, and planning obsolescence so you don\u2019t have all this huge investment that will be thrown away.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

By Cristina Commendatore<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

Source: https:\/\/www.fleetowner.com\/<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

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KNOW WHO WE ARE<\/strong><\/a><\/h1>\n

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The future of EVs is not one-size-fits-all, according to industry experts at ACT Expo 2021 in Long Beach. But the foundation for moving forward in the EV space will rely heavily on partnerships and planning ahead. LONG BEACH, California \u2014 At the last in-person Advanced Clean Transportation Expo event in 2019, attendees wondered: Would electric…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":12290,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[18],"tags":[217],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12289"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12289"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12289\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12291,"href":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12289\/revisions\/12291"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12290"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12289"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12289"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12289"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}