By Ed Pierce, Fleet Management Weekly’s Brand Acceleration
March 13, 2024
Part one of a two-part series
As new electric vehicle models hit the market every month, fleets are electrifying more than ever before. Only two years ago, fleets had barely broken ground on electrification, limited to a sparse selection of mainly light-duty models. Today, the options for electrification have expanded to include a wide range of medium- and heavy-duty vehicles. With so many options to choose from, fleet operators of all sizes are beginning to take their first steps into electrifying their fleet.
The surging interest in electrification is helpful in many ways, but too many options can make the challenge of integration that much harder. With so many similar-sounding solutions to choose from, it can be difficult for fleet managers to find the solution that’s right for their business. To navigate the road to electrification, fleet managers need a partner who can work with them to design and implement the perfect strategy.
One-Stop Shop
Inspiration Mobility is a one-stop shop that helps fleets manage their EV transition — no matter where they are in their electrification journey. As a systems integrator, Inspiration brings all the varied pieces of electrification together to deliver a solid solution for fleets. Inspiration can help fleets understand — at no cost — which vehicles are ready to transition to electric, which EV can best substitute for an ICE vehicle, and how/where to best charge their EVs. Whether a fleet is looking to introduce its first EVs or scale an emerging EV-only business, Inspiration has it covered.
“What we’ve found is that many FMCs can get a company through a pilot project, but those legacy FMCs hit speedbumps moving from pilot to full-scale, end-to-end deployment,” notes Josh Green, founder and CEO of Inspiration Mobility. (Part two of the series will cover this and other barriers to fleet electrification.)
Putting the Pieces Together
Electrifying a fleet isn’t as simple as choosing an EV and selling off your ICE vehicles. Fleet managers have to match each EV with the right charger, which then has to be installed and matched with a utility rate structure. There’s also charging management software to consider, not to mention the real estate, construction, and financing of the whole operation.
“Putting all the pieces together is a complex exercise for any one company or fleet manager to tackle by themselves,” says Green. “Our bundled solutions can help companies with as much or as little as they need to successfully electrify.”
Green continues, “Whether we’re talking about charging hardware, charging management software, or the vehicles themselves, there are a lot of point solutions out there. A lot of people will offer one piece of the puzzle. We are unique in that we’ll come in and work with clients to design, build, and operate an electric fleet that serves the needs of the specific business.”
Clean Energy and Fleet Prowess
To handle both the clean energy and fleet aspects of electrification, Inspiration has team members from all sides of the equation. Some of its members come from the clean energy world, bringing the necessary experience of building, owning, and operating charging infrastructure. Other members come from the fleet world, bringing experience from fleet management companies, fleet consulting, and fleets themselves.
“On the charging side, we’re a little bit architect and general contractor,” says Green. “We figure out which charging is right for which location, and if the customer wants us to, we will build it ourselves. We can do what’s called charging-as-a-service, where our clients don’t pay anything upfront. All they agree to is a fuel contract. Whatever they need, however they want to consume electricity for charging, we can put those pieces together for the customer – and keep drivers satisfied, safe, and on the road.”
Electrifying at Every Stage of the Process
Not all fleets are at the same stage of electrification. While some fleets have already transitioned a percentage of their ICE vehicles to electric, others have only just begun considering electrification. With Inspiration, fleet managers get a tailored solution that meets them exactly where they are in the process.
“We work with fleets in every stage of transitioning,” says Green. “We have the EV curious, which are fleets that have no electric vehicles on the road today but have heard about them and are interested in exploring them. These fleets need help from step one. They need help understanding, ‘Will an electric vehicle serve our business needs? What will be the cost relative to what we’re running today? Will my drivers like it? Where will I charge it?’ They need a comprehensive analysis and a consultative approach from a company that understands both the vehicle and the charging side.
“On the other end of the spectrum, we have companies that have already started electrifying. Maybe they have run pilots, or committed to electrification, or have 2-5% of their fleet as electric vehicles. Most of these fleets have begun the process by starting in the places where it’s easiest to electrify. But they haven’t yet really done the long-term planning to understand how to meet decarbonization goals and get to 100% electric.”
Choosing Which Vehicles to Electrify
Inspiration works with clients in both stages and anywhere in between. Their first move with a new client is to conduct an EV Opportunity Assessment, which examines the most electrifiable vehicles in the fleet. Inspiration examines the vehicles’ route and duty cycles to see if there is an electric vehicle that meets the business requirements. They then look location by location to see how, where, and when each vehicle will charge, examining the cost of installing any necessary infrastructure.
“When we see vehicles that should be electric but aren’t, we call it the Electrification Action Gap,” says Green. “This is essentially any time there’s a vehicle that should be electric, has a lower cost of ownership, has an EV substitute available, and charging is easy to set up, but for whatever reason the company is still running an ICE vehicle on that route.”
“Our analysis usually finds fleets have enormous unrealized potential and savings right off the bat,” says Green. “We had one fleet recently with 2,500 vehicles, and 1,800 of those vehicles could be transitioned to electric. This would have saved them $3 million each year if those vehicles were electric today.”
After conducting their initial analysis, Inspiration then creates a long-term plan for vehicles that aren’t yet ready to electrify. This might be because of barriers to installing charging infrastructure, or it might just be that there’s no suitable EV substitute yet. Whatever barriers there may be to electrification, Inspiration monitors the plan over the long term to assess when and if electrification is possible.
A Tailored Solution for All Types of Fleets
Different fleets have different needs. After all, a shipping company is going to have a very different electrification process compared with a rental car company. What Inspiration offers is a tailored solution for every type of fleet in the market. Whether it’s a rideshare company or a take-home sales fleet for a Fortune 500 company, Inspiration designs the optimum solution based on the fleet’s individual needs.
“When Inspiration first started back in 2021, we were exclusively focused on light-duty fleets because that’s where the vehicle supply was,” says Green. “Today we see light duty fleets continuing to accelerate, but we also see a lot of medium- and heavy-duty fleets beginning to electrify. The total cost of ownership benefits are immense because those vehicles travel long miles and burn a lot of traditional fuel.”
Much of the push towards electrification has been concentrated in states where electrification mandates or incentives are very active. Companies in states like California, New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Colorado, and Washington are electrifying more quickly for various reasons. For some, it’s a risk issue to comply with regulations. For others, it’s about capturing incentives that are particularly rich in today’s climate. With Inspiration, fleets can navigate any regulations and take advantage of incentives before they disappear.
An EV-First Fleet Management Company
“For a traditional FMC, 50-60% of the revenue comes from providing services,” says Green. “Most of these are tied to the internal combustion engine, which means that an FMC makes money off of things like oil changes, fueling, and gas cards. So, we felt the need to redesign and build from the ground up a services platform and FMC that optimizes the electric vehicle. Something that doesn’t depend on those revenue streams to build a business.”
To that end, Inspiration recently brought on Maria Neve to be the Vice President of eFMC Services. She’s one of the leaders of Inspiration Fleet, which is an EV-first fleet management company that provides products, services, and leasing all designed to maximize the benefits of EVs. In addition to providing regular FMC services like maintenance, registration, tolls, and violations, Inspiration also provides a range of solutions tailored to electric vehicles.
“We have solutions that take advantage of the onboard telematics to provide data analytics and optimize charging,” says Green.
Inspiration’s eFMC services include:
- Electrification planning and strategy
- EV procurement and leasing
- Full-service vehicle management (including title and registration)
- Vehicle maintenance
- Roadside and accident management
- eFuel management, including personal mileage tracking, public charging, and at-home charging reimbursement
- Charging infrastructure deployment, including no-cost charging-as-a-service (CaaS) solutions
- Other innovations, specifically designed for EV fleet management
Inspiration is optimistic about the path ahead and how technology – both in the EVs and in customer dashboards – continually improves drivers’ satisfaction and safety. “Our solutions can process reimbursements for employees that charge their EVs at home off their personal utility meter,” continues Green. “We’ve put in place a platform that provides all the services a fleet manager knows and expects with technology and services that are unique to an electric vehicle platform.”
Look for part two of this series next week.