EVAI, a pioneering company specializing in advanced data analytics and AI-driven solutions for fleet management, has officially published the results from its latest industry survey, which was designed to reveal significant insights into the use of total cost of ownership (TCO) metrics and the current state of electric vehicle (EV) adoption among vehicle fleet managers.
Going by the available details, this particular survey recruited a total of 2,500 fleet executives to highlight the challenges and frustrations faced by today’s small and medium sized fleet managers when it comes to properly leveraging TCO metrics in their relationship with auto dealership and service partners, especially across key areas such as vehicle maintenance.
Talk about the published results on a slightly deeper level, we begin from the fact that no more than 41% of respondents were found to track TCO rigorously, whereas on the other hand, 40% said they need better tools for TCO tracking alongside their dealer partners.
Next up, we must dig into how vehicle purchase price (29%) and charging infrastructure costs (21%) emerged as two of the most important cost factors when evaluating EV TCO.
Another detail worth a mention is provided by a contingent of 41% of respondents who were deemed highly-likely to accelerate EV adoption if real-time TCO insights and management tools are available.
“We understand the frustrations fleet managers face in accessing accurate and comprehensive TCO data,” said Ian Gardner, Founder and CEO of EVAI. “By leveraging TCO metrics plus AI monitoring and analysis, combined with strong partnerships with auto dealers and service partners, fleet managers can significantly strengthen their fleet management and cost management strategies. Our mission is to provide advanced tools and real-time insights that empower fleet managers to make informed decisions with auto dealers and service providers, optimize their operations, and achieve their sustainability goals.”
Moving onto the present fleet and EV dynamics, they revealed that 41% of respondents currently manage fleets with 51-100 vehicles, while 39% oversee fleets with over 101 vehicles. The survey also confirms that, as of today, 41% of fleets are partially transitioned to EVs, with another 40% exploring options but yet to take any absolute action.
With majority of respondents (70%) considering long-term operational savings when assessing fleet EV costs, they would use fuel/energy efficiency (21%) and maintenance costs through auto dealers (21%) as top KPIs to assess EV fleet performance. In that respect, cost comparisons of EVs vs. ICE vehicles over time (41%) and predictive analytics on battery performance (39%) were also found to be the most needed pieces of data for making informed EV adoption decisions.
EVAI further took this opportunity to shed light upon the challenges which are hampering EV adoption, a part where high upfront costs (20%), charging infrastructure concerns (20%), and uncertain resale value (20%) were confirmed as top reasons for fleets not transitioning to EVs.
“By leveraging cutting-edge technology and predictive analytics, we aim to simplify the EV transition process so fleet operators understand and realize the TCO and uptime benefits of going EV, and drive the future of fleet management by ensuring the right EV and charging solutions are selected and managing the EV fleet ecosystem to deliver the ROI promised,” said Gardner.
