Fleet World Workshop Tools
Car Tax Calculator
CO2 Calculator
Van Tax Calculator
BiK Rates Company Car Tax

Comment: Why Mobility as a Service is key to the adoption of EV fleets

By / 3 years ago / Comment, Opinions / No Comments

Matthew Terry, head of business mobility as a service at Mobilleo, looks at the drive to fleet electrification and how Mobility as a Service can support it.

Matthew Terry, head of business mobility as a service at Mobilleo

The shift to electrification is high on the agenda for Fleet & Mobility Managers across Europe in 2021. Whether that is accelerating the efforts they currently have in place or kickstarting their Electric Vehicle (EV) journey from scratch, the direction of the company car market is clear.

The capability of EVs is ever increasing as vehicles are brought to market with longer battery ranges and lower list prices. These factors, combined with the ongoing improvements to the charging infrastructure broadens the scope for EVs to meet the needs of a greater population of fleet drivers.

Recent research by ALD in the UK shows that 69% of drivers travel further than 200 miles no more than once a month. This shows that EVs can be successfully deployed to cover the majority of journeys for most drivers. For the remaining drivers that travel over 200 miles each month on more than one occasion, there is a simple way to address their requirements. Introducing a structured mobility solution that offers long distance modes of travel can fill the ‘gap’, allowing more drivers to benefit from the adoption of EVs.

Existing Mobility as a Service (MaaS) technologies can support this shift to EVs, and in the fleet market Business Mobility as a Service (BMaaS) is the most effective solution to deploy. Here is a high-level guide to deploying your EV+ MaaS policy.

Firstly, it is important to understand the core motivation within the organisation for the deployment of EVs within your fleet. From our experience the main motivations are Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), Cost Efficiencies or Employee Satisfaction. While each deployment has an element of each of these, there will most likely be a primary driving factor. Once this is understood you can begin to design your policies around the strategic aims of that motivation.

By understanding the profiles of your drivers, you can target those who require the support of MaaS within the deployment for their EVs. Working in partnership with your BMaaS provider you can begin to model out the cost & environmental implications of the journeys where the EV would not be suitable. This analysis will allow the Fleet Manager to allocate a proportion of EV+ Mobility Budget to each driver. This budget can be drawn upon each month for the journeys where the EV is unsuitable.

This may equate to only one or two journeys per month where an alternative solution could be deployed such as a train ticket, Internal Combustion Engine (ICE) hire car or car club vehicle.

Key to this deployment is to work with a BMaaS partner that can make the process seamless in implementation and operation. MaaS in the corporate environment works best when the individual preferences can be met and acted upon within the employer’s policy.

Deploying an EV+ Mobility Budget provides the drivers with effective mobility, allowing them to continue to carry out their role while utilising an EV. The carbon benefits are obvious versus ICE company cars and the BiK savings for the individual are also beneficial. Additionally, the MaaS platform should include EV charge point locations, aggregation of available providers, contextual information about location and routing. This broadens the use of the solution making it relevant to all drivers and all journeys.

The benefits to the employer and Fleet/Mobility Manager are similar. The solution should provide access to real-time data in relation to the mobility operation, information on carbon footprint, and allow control over policy & driver management. Ideally the BMaaS partner would be able to work alongside the existing fleet management provider to enhance the offering for a Total Cost of Mobility scheme. This should include consolidation of all payments and management information to make the process for the customer as seamless as possible.

For more of the latest industry news, click here.

Contributor

The author didn't add any Information to his profile yet.