Collaborations centered around integrated smart charging and battery analytics set to open up exciting growth prospects.
The shift of commercial fleets from conventional fuel powered vehicles to electric vehicles (EVs) across North America and Europe will be accompanied by both challenges and opportunities. The transition will compel fleet managers to navigate unfamiliar terrain: fleet right sizing, charging infrastructure assessment, fleet operations and scheduling, charger and grid management, and fleet maintenance. This, in turn, will underline the rising demand for effective and economical EV fleet management solutions that can transform smart charging and battery management. Accordingly, partnerships aimed at facilitating integrated charging and battery analytics will offer tremendous growth potential in the EV fleet management market.
A range of EV fleet management features—EV suitability assessment (EVSA), vehicle management, charging management, energy management, payment management, and battery health monitoring, among others—will be required across different types of fleet operations (first mile, mid mile, and last mile), distances (short haul, long haul, regional haul), and applications (delivery services, leasing & rental, utilities, and mobile services, among others). To ensure a seamless transition, partnerships across the ecosystem among original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), telematics service providers (TSPs), charge point operators (CPOs) / EV supply equipment (EVSE) companies and other EV ecosystem providers (such as freight mobility platforms, EVSA solution providers, fleet leasing/rental platforms, and battery analytics platforms, among others) will be crucial. Frost & Sullivan research projects steady growth in the EV fleet management market in North America and Europe from $24.6 million in 2022 to $594.6 million in 2028.
To learn more, please access Growth Opportunities and Use Cases for Electric Vehicle Fleet Management in North America and Europe or, contact sathyanarayanak@frost.com for information on a private briefing.
OEM focus on EV fleet management to catalyze market development
The growing OEM focus on EV fleet management will emerge as a key market driver. EV manufacturers are already providing hardware-agnostic embedded telematics solutions as a standard fitment on vehicles. Data integration between OEMs and aftermarket players, such as TSPs/other fleet management software companies, will obviate the need for additional hardware installations. While the objective here will be to facilitate data access for mixed fleet operations through a unified platform, nonetheless, integration hurdles could emerge when fleets have to manage differing brands of EVs and EVSEs.
The prospect of optimized total cost of operations (TCO) will also play a role in boosting adoption. Here, connected fleet solutions will enable complete monitoring of EV fleet operations, including charging, infrastructure, battery performance, driving range, and vehicle dynamics. This will highlight the lower TCO of commercial EV fleets compared to their ICE counterparts.
The market will receive further impetus from the trend of OEMs integrating charging networks, mobile applications, and services, thereby facilitating access to charging stations of different providers across varied geographies.
A prominent challenge that stakeholders will need to address is lengthy RoI. On the one hand, eConsulting will support installation of appropriate charging infrastructure for EV fleets. On the other hand, high capital and installation costs could mean an extended RoI period that could dampen EV uptake and, by extension, EV fleet management.
OEM vs Aftermarket Telematics
Both OEMs and aftermarket participants offer telematics solutions for EV fleet management. How is this competition playing out across various sectors?
Firstly, truck leasing and rental companies, in general, offer their own wide-ranging fleet management solutions. These cover the gamut from maintenance and compliance to driver management and EV services (e.g., public charging access, charging infrastructure installation, and remote monitoring of EVSE).
Secondly, OEM telematics solutions and aftermarket telematics solutions are witnessing comparable adoption in electric light commercial vehicle (eLCV) fleets across the courier, parcel, and express mail delivery services sector. While OEM telematics solutions are common among larger, traditional OEMs, aftermarket telematics solutions hold appeal for smaller OEMs, in addition to holding a share among larger traditional OEMs.
Thirdly, eLCV fleets of last-mile delivery companies in the eCommerce and retail sectors are demonstrating higher adoption of aftermarket telematics solutions compared to OEM provided telematics. Here, EVSE partners may offer a unified platform for both EVSE management and EV telematics in the eCommerce and retail sector.
And lastly, vehicle and workplace storage solution providers that collaborate with fleets deploying vehicle conversions and van racking services are favoring aftermarket telematics solutions for eLCVs. These fleets often meet the needs of the utilities and infrastructure services sectors.
Multiple Revenue Opportunities Beckon
As commercial fleets electrify, there are multiple revenue opportunities for all stakeholders. For instance, OEMs can generate additional revenues by providing EV services for commercial fleets. Here, comprehensive packages that meet the needs of mixed fleets and that cover the vehicles themselves, together with subscription-based services and charging solutions, will support revenue diversification.
Similarly, TSPs can expand revenue potential via partnerships and integrations. The provision of a single dashboard that enables integrated EV charging through multiple brands and subscription-based charging services will open new revenue streams.
And, finally, ecosystem participants like battery analytics platform and technology software solution providers can benefit by partnering with other stakeholders including OEMs, TSPs, and EVSEs, among others, to gain access to larger networks of fleet operators active in their ecosystem.
With inputs from Amrita Shetty, Senior Manager, Communications & Content – Mobility
