Quick Summary
- Successful fleet electrification depends on understanding the business and the people running it, with support that extends beyond installation.
- Operators need to assess whether a provider offers meaningful advice, practical staff training and ongoing help suited to their fleet.
- Helping teams understand charging routines and software gives them the confidence to manage everyday operations and adapt when plans change.
- A worthwhile solution connects investment and energy costs with operational needs, and shows how each depot’s requirements have shaped the approach.
Five questions to ask your fleet electrification provider
Electrifying any fleet is not a like-for-like substitution, and failing to recognise the practical differences between operating conventional and electric vehicles can seriously disrupt your business. Equally, solutions that don’t account for the individual nature of a fleet, or ignore the staff who run it day-to-day, can become more of a burden than a benefit once the provider leaves the site.
From our experience working closely with a range of businesses and operational models, it’s clear that highly considerate and ongoing support is vital to the success of an EV transition. That’s why we’ve put together a list of questions that should help you determine whether a transition provider is right for you.
1. Is my fleet eligible for electrification?
“Customers don’t always have full visibility of their requirements or of all the different elements involved in electrification from the outset. Our role is therefore to help them navigate that complexity; understand the market they’re entering and shape their requirements as we go.”
Aoife Gormley, Customer Experience Manager, VEV
Any process, not just electrification, should start with an honest conversation. A provider that washes over the difficult discussions might not be suited to guide you through such a complex process.
The beginning of your EV transition should be packed with data and analysis, so that you have a detailed idea of the current state of your fleet and what your electrification goals should be. Our analysis typically shows that 40-50% of vehicles in a fleet can electrify with minimal operational change, even more for buses and other vehicles that operate on fixed schedules with predictable time for charging. Our software platform, VEV IQ, also uses data to show theoretical optimum charging schedules for your vehicles and set out future energy demand. optimum charging schedules for your vehicles and set out future energy demand.
An honest and well-informed provider will be able to tell you:
- Which vehicles, routes, and sites to start with
- How much power and how many chargers you need
- How much it will cost you each year
- How to phase your electrification journey and investment
You should always ensure that providers are able to accommodate grid restrictions and capital constraints for the solution to cover everything it needs to. This is one of the major benefits of choosing an end-to-end provider, as the installation of new grid connections, on-site solar energy and battery storage, as well as any potentially difficult communication with local planning authorities and DNOs that might arise, are all under the purview of one highly competent point of contact.
2. What support do you offer to staff during the transition?
“I think end user buy-in is one of the most important things to making sure that your transition is successful. Because if you don’t have that user bought in to the product, the vehicle, using chargers, it’s going to be difficult to make your infrastructure work and your fleet continue operating how it is meant to.”
Catriona Bell, Account Manager, VEV
A well-integrated solution will account for practical training, help fitting charging into existing routines, and have an approachable contact for questions both during and after implementation. Even with an easy-to-use product, changing long-standing routines can always present unforeseen difficulties.
The simplicity often aimed for during this stage shouldn’t be about minimising interaction between the customer and provider, but rather a more meaningful simplicity that reduces friction by getting to know the people using the solution, understanding what works for them, and helping them resolve even the smallest challenges as they arise.
One common learning curve is the utilisation of the full extent of a CPMS (Charge Point Management System) platform, like VEV IQ. We have found that thoughtful education in areas like how to use the chargers, when the best time to charge is, and how vehicle performance varies with operating conditions and weather is mission-critical to a smooth transition.
It’s far too easy for staff at all levels to assume that everything will stay the same after electrification, but a conversation that brings them on board with this new way of working will result in a much stronger outcome. VEV IQ, for example, allows for a whole new layer of visibility and control, fully integrated into all our solutions and compatible with over 200 charger models.
For a site manager, this could mean using VEV IQ to prioritise a vehicle that’s needed earlier than planned, or checking charging progress without walking the depot. Understanding how charging schedules work also helps staff recognise when a vehicle is deliberately waiting for cheaper electricity, rather than assuming a delayed start means something has gone wrong, reducing pressure on your organisation. This increased visibility is excellent for giving site managers confidence, building trust within the business and between electrification partners.
Where a depot has an on-site microgrid, the platform can coordinate charging with solar generation, battery storage and grid supply. This allows available energy to be used more effectively while keeping vehicle requirements central to charging decisions.
At Dawsongroup vans’ Milton Keynes depot, VEV IQ integrates 34 chargers with solar panels and battery storage, helping overcome restrictions on grid power. Showing staff how these elements work together makes the infrastructure easier to understand, and gives them the confidence to use its capabilities to the maximum value rather than falling back on routines that no longer suit the infrastructure.
3. What happens after you leave the site?
A major disadvantage of a fragmented solution (as opposed to end-to-end) is the potential for suppliers to have gaps between their responsibilities, leaving the customer to coordinate them at their own expense. A good electrification partner should be an approachable contact that gives you confidence your infrastructure will continue to operate as intended, whether through technical support and preventive maintenance or ongoing advice that helps site teams adapt to new tools.
VEV hypercare and ongoing support, for example, provides proactive and hands-on support from hardware and energy experts to resolve issues. Open communication and integration into VEV IQ help site teams handle straightforward issues confidently themselves, with support available when needed. The platform offers full control over charger reboots and the ability to take faulty hardware offline, with a network dashboard that can identify and troubleshoot issues across your entire network.
Scalability is another critical element of a strong electrification solution. As fleets build on their initial deployment and introduce more electric vehicles, managing energy and charging across the fleet network becomes increasingly important.
A pure SaaS solution will inevitably struggle to take you further than optimisation, but an integrated solution like VEV IQ can coalesce telematics, infrastructure bottleneck information, and charger usage data to support further grid upgrades and infrastructure delivery. All whilst offering real upgrade timing informed by an understanding of actual demand.
4. How can I make my EVs worth it?
High upfront cost is one of the most significant barriers to fleet electrification. It’s important for a provider to acknowledge and mitigate this, in order to produce a solution that aims beyond TCO parity. Understanding when your vehicles work, how long they spend at the depot and what your business can afford helps establish where savings are achievable, and what needs to change to realise them.
Charging is one area where this understanding makes a considerable difference. A vehicle returning in the afternoon may not need to charge immediately if it remains parked overnight. VEV IQ can schedule charging around lower-cost electricity, whilst accounting for departure times and the energy required for the next duty. However, those savings depend on the charging plan reflecting what actually happens at the depot. Giving site teams the skills to recognise the significance of these changes, and the confidence to communicate them, helps preserve the balance between controlling costs and keeping vehicles ready.
The same attention should extend to equipment choices. If vehicles have sufficient time to charge at lower power, installing faster chargers may add expense without providing a useful operational benefit. A considerate partner should help you understand that distinction before you commit to the investment.
Even a convincing long-term business case can be difficult to fund upfront. However, we find that a lot of customers aren’t always aware of the range of grants are available to them, and how smart you can be about transitioning your fleet. Alternative energy solutions like solar, for example, or government grants like the Depot Charging Scheme, can drastically reduce the TCO of electrification.
These conversations should bring finance and site teams together early, so that the assumptions behind the investment are understood by those who approve it, as well as those whose everyday decisions will help deliver its value.
5. What are you doing differently in my depot?
Ultimately, it’s key to remember that no solution is one-size-fits-all. Every depot and every fleet, both across and within industries, requires a high degree of comprehension and understanding to create an effective outcome.
Your provider should be able to explain how what they’ve learned about your depot has influenced their recommendations, whether that means choosing lower-powered chargers to suit longer parking periods, adapting training around different shifts, or arranging support around your operating hours.
At VEV, we work more as a partner than a provider. We design our solutions to fit your operations, deliver with real empathy for live sites and unique situations, and integrate it all into one system that performs from day 1.
If you’d like to find out how VEV can help you start your journey, then contact us.
