Decarbonisation of mobility will only be possible if corporate fleets abandon fossil fuels and become electric. The impact of these fleets on traffic and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions is considerable, so it is essential to accelerate and simplify the adoption of electric mobility by corporate fleets.
According to the Eurelectric report prepared with EY, in Europe commercial fleets are responsible for 40% of road journeys and 50% of GHG emissions on the roads, despite representing 20% of the European vehicle fleet. In a context where road transport represents nearly a quarter of total GHG emissions in Europe, the role of commercial fleets in decarbonisation is crucial.
In Portugal, 80% of electric vehicles sold, according to the Automobile Association of Portugal (ACAP), are destined for company fleets. The Portuguese State has implemented incentives and tax benefits for the acquisition of these cars, contributing to creating a growing trend in the electrification of Portuguese company fleets.
In addition to the environmental benefits and the possibility of daily savings, electric cars also reduce noise in cities. With this growing investment by companies in this type of vehicle, the second-hand market could soon see the prices of electric cars fall, thus contributing to their democratisation.
After decades of driving combustion vehicles, the electric car means changing some habits and, in the case of companies, can generate many doubts for those who manage fleets. However, there is no reason to think that it is more difficult. For each challenge there is already a solution created by EDP, as can be seen from the responses to the most common challenges that companies face when making this transition.
1. Should I install chargers in my company?
Although the public charging network continues to grow and is a good option for charging on long trips, charging your car at home or at work, with the single rate or the two-hour rate, significantly reduces the price of trips.
EDP helps businesses understand what type of charger best suits their needs, taking into account factors such as the size of the operation or the type of business. EDP also ensures a charging solution for all cases, from slow charging, fast charging or even ultra-fast charging.
two. Will my electrical infrastructure support all the new chargers?
One of the biggest concerns when it comes to installing charging points in companies is whether the power available in the electrical panel is adequate. With an intelligent charging management system, it is possible to control the available power and schedule the charging of electric cars for periods when there is less demand for energy, as is the case with EDP Charge. Intelligent charging technology allows the number of chargers installed in each location to be multiplied by ten, while maintaining electrical capacity.
3. How do I monitor consumption outside of company chargers? Can I charge company fees to private vehicles?
On long journeys it may be essential to charge the company’s electric car on the public grid, and on the other hand, situations may arise where employees’ private cars need to be charged at the company’s facilities. These and other problems in charging and charger management are solved with EDP Charge Frota, an integrated solution for charging public and private fleets.
In short, with this solution the company assigns each employee a charging limit that can be used at public chargers, at work and at home. When this charging is done at home, the amount is debited from the amount assigned by the company, i.e. it is not credited on the employee’s home electricity bill. Despite this, this rate is applied at the domestic rate prices, which are lower than those charged on public roads.
This solution is part of EDP’s ecosystem of Electric Mobility solutions for companies, which also includes the installation of chargers for private spaces (offices or homes), a digital portal where the fleet manager can manage chargers, analyse consumption, assign amounts to charging stations, among other features, and the EDP Charge App, where each employee has access to innovative features, such as home reimbursement, integrated management of their payments or consultation of available charging points.
Smart, customizable solutions that solve multiple challenges with a single tool help in the transition to an increasingly electrified world. The EDP Charge Fleet solution aims to simplify the process of a company’s onboarding to an electric fleet.
Source: Observadora
