Electric Vehicles will continue to decrease in price and become more affordable for your fleet, but many fail to see how affordable they are now. The most significant cost associated with electric vehicle production is the battery. Thankfully, advancements in battery capacity and efficiency are simultaneously lowering the cost of production. Lithium battery prices by weight have decreased a staggering 83% over the past ten years. But let’s face it, the sticker price on the EV you’ve been shopping is still a little frightening.
The problem with electric vehicle pricing is that it fails to convey the benefits EVs bring from the total cost of ownership perspective. To understand the total cost of owning an electric shuttle fleet, we factor in the savings from reducing fuel costs and maintenance overall. The energy efficiency of electric vehicles also drastically lowers fuel costs for your fleet. In other articles, we have compared the sustainability and expenses of using fuels such as Diesel, Clean Natural Gas, and Renewable Natual Gas. While the reduction in cost from fuel savings is immense, we must not forget about the savings in maintenance costs. Maintenance doesn’t only contribute significantly to your fleet’s costs but also your time as a fleet operator.
1. Reduced Routine Maintenance
On average, there are around 1,500 moving parts inside an internal combustion engine vehicle. Each of these components creates an opportunity for wear and tear through friction and heat. As with any engine, parts need to be replaced to prevent further wear or correct an issue. Electric vehicles, on the other hand, benefit from their simplified drive system. This eliminates the need for high-ticket routine maintenance like engine oil, spark plugs, or brake jobs. Regenerative braking systems help with your fuel efficiency and extend your brakes’ lifespan drastically. Most fleet owners can expect to quadruple their brake life. Your recurring maintenance costs will drop significantly, and you can benefit as the fleet operator by reducing time in the shop by sticking just to brake jobs and tires.
2. Corrective Maintenance
Internal combustion engine vehicles are prone to failure from their complex drive systems. When a problem does occur, this means returning the vehicle to your maintenance facility and downtime for your fleet vehicle. Fleets must not only be prepared for this possibility but also consider how maintenance may increase. Fleet service specialists at Fleet Advantage reported that vehicles in their 4th to 6th year in operation can expect 2.75X greater maintenance costs than the vehicles in their 1st to 3rd year in operation. Electric Vehicles are expecting maintenance costs to decrease in future years as the technology becomes even more reliable. Electric vehicles have far fewer parts that could fail or require replacement, contributing to significant maintenance savings.
3. Maintenance Planning
Planning routine maintenance and responding to a vehicle failure can cause headaches for fleet managers. Another significant advantage of operating an electric fleet is the ability to better plan your maintenance cycles and forecast costs more accurately. The software that runs your EV is packed with valuable data that helps you understand vehicle performance. Using machine learning, this software will also better predict and respond to problems inside the vehicle. Engineers can also use this modeling to make adjustments to vehicles in real-time through push updates from the cloud. Ultimately, this reduces the total downtime of your fleet vehicles and overall operational costs.
4. Total Cost Reduction
Electric vehicles are very beneficial to fleets by reducing routine maintenance, downtime, and the risk of engine failure. Although the savings from maintenance are small compared to fuel savings, EVs will save you hours planning and waiting for maintenance to be completed. One of our Southern California clients saw an overall 25% reduction in maintenance costs, representing a 5% reduction in overall costs. If you are looking to reduce your fleet’s operational costs, electric vehicles are a reliable strategy. Despite the higher sticker price, using electric shuttles will significantly reduce your fuel and maintenance costs. As a fleet owner or operator, you will see many other benefits besides reducing your operating budget from switching to electric too. The technology used in EVs naturally makes your maintenance stress-free and will keep your vehicle running more efficiently and consistently.