Nearly 40% of UK fleet vehicles could switch to electric today and save money over the vehicle’s life.

Geotab assessed more than 3,400 vehicles and found over 1,300 of these could be replaced with a fully electric vehicle and be cost-effective

A new white paper from Geotab on the current status of EV adoption in the UK assessed more than 3,400 vehicles and found over 1,300 of these could be replaced with a fully electric vehicle and be cost-effective

The findings were based on the use of Geotab’s electric vehicle suitability assessment tool (EVSA), which evaluates fleets and creates a multi-year procurement plan to help them go electric.

Powered by Geotab’s EVSA using anonymised and aggregated data sets, the business analysed vehicles operated in the UK across 51 customers and within 14 industries to determine their EV suitability today.

The analysis considered the actual daily vehicle usage and compared this to the real-world range performance of EVs on the market today. It also took into account factors like operating temperature.

Following this, Geotab analysed the total cost of ownership of the petrol and diesel vehicles operating in the fleet, and made the comparison against a new EV, factoring in costs such as fuel, electricity and maintenance.

The Geotab team found that the results exceeded even its own initial expectations. More fleets than anticipated have vehicles that can switch to electric today, and use it as a cost-saving exercise rather than an expense — data allows fleets to identify where the cost savings are.

While the upfront cost of an EV can be higher than an internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicle, over the vehicle’s lifetime, the equation can reach parity and even cost less in eight years based on this analysis.

Other key findings from the report are:

• Incentives continue to play a role in EV adoption;
• More than 40% of UK passenger fleet vehicles are within EV range;
• On-route charging strategies can help tip the balance – daytime charging can increase vehicle range capability from 35% to over 50%.

A Geotab spokesperson commented: “As more options enter the market across all vehicle segments and at competitive price points, the opportunity for electrification will only increase overtime. Fleets that make their own commitments today will benefit from the experience in electrifying their fleet operations and use that moving forward. By adopting EVs into your fleet now, you can get a handle on the data and insights that are applicable to the journey ahead.”

To read Geotab’s report findings in further detail, click here.