Migrating from diesel to electric, or even adding electric trucks to your fleet, is not a simple matter of simply flipping a switch. The fact is, you can\u2019t just walk into a dealership and walk out with a battery-electric truck and expect there to be no adaptation problems. There is a great deal more to consider when it comes to BEVs than just buying the vehicle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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While many early adopter fleets are already running electric\ntrucks under limited service, they have also been required to upgrade their\nterminal facilities to support electrification. So, what does it look like for\na fleet who has entered the electrification game? One company, who runs trucks\nbetween Chino and the ports of LA and Long Beach says that their electric\ntrucks are working only at the port.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
With a typical run of around 108 miles to the port and back,\nthe electric trucks simply do not have the range, whereas the diesel variants\nmake back and forth runs multiple times per day. The company reported in a\nrecent study that while getting electric trucks into service has not been very\ndifficult, keeping them running and optimizing them has proved to be more of a\nchallenge. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Electric trucks don\u2019t come without headwinds. And while\nCalifornia is offering a lot of incentives for trucking companies to make the\nswitch to electric as part of its 2020 clean air action plan, there are still\nplenty of unknowns to deal with. As one example, many trucking companies wonder\nwhat the true cost of ownership is. No one really knows whether the cost of\nownership for an electric truck will come in lower than diesel. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
How Much Power<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Many trucking companies, including those that are running\ntests of electric trucks, are still trying to figure out exactly how much power\nwill be drawn off the grid to get the trucks going. According to the U.S.\nEnergy Information Administration, the average residential customer uses around\n909 kWh of power per month. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Now, imagine an electric truck will draw around 2 kWh of\npower per mile. If you multiply that out depending on the use-case, you could\nbe talking about a home\u2019s worth of energy usage just to run one truck. In many\ncases, there will be problems with the amount of power available. Or, there\njust might not be the infrastructure required for wholesale fleet charging. <\/p>\n\n\n\n It is very likely that utility companies will need to make\nmajor upgrades as more electric vehicles begin drawing power from municipal\npower grids and transmission lines. Whether it be adding more lines, upgrading\ntransformers or other changes, power grids may find themselves under a lot of\nstress. In some cases, if a major fleet requires big upgrades to the grid, they\nmay have to help pay for those upgrades, especially if they are the only\nutility customer requiring them. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Many big trucking companies are already discovering this\nproblem as they plan for their own electrical infrastructure. Ryder is one such\ncompany. As they were looking at 25 different electrical installations across a\nvariety of their locations in California, they realized that many of their\nlocations did not have enough spare capacity for more than half-a-dozen\nvehicles. Anything more than that would strain the system. <\/p>\n\n\n\n In this scenario, smaller fleets may be at a greater\nadvantage. If you are running only 5 \u2013 10 trucks, you will have an easier time\nadopting electric vehicles than would a larger operation. Larger operations\ntend to run into electrification capacity issues far sooner than fleets of a\nlesser size. While a building probably already has a 220-volt service, it isn\u2019t\ndifficult to install a level-2 charger. Fortunately, for fleets running small,\nshorter-range vehicles this isn\u2019t a problem. They simply don\u2019t need fast\ncharging capabilities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It is when you get to larger implementation projects that\nyou run into problems. With modern buildings, it can get a little dicey right\naround 10 vehicles. Any more than 10 vehicles and it is very likely your\nbuilding won\u2019t be able to handle the load. <\/p>\n\n\n\n When to Use Power<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n It is important to remember that utilities will upcharge you if you use power during times of the day when there is peak demand for electricity. It is important to consider that, like diesel, electricity costs vary over time. If you are trying to charge your vehicles in the middle of the day, it is going to cost you more than it does if you charge them in the middle of the night.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n It is important to look closely at when your trucks are\nfinished and when they can be charged. While some fleets are installing\n550-kilowat chargers to handle up to a dozen trucks, not every fleet has that\ncapacity. You also don\u2019t want to charge a bunch of trucks at the same time, as\nthat will also drive demand charges up. <\/p>\n\n\n\n When you charge at peak time or charge many trucks at the\nsame time, you will pay more for electricity over the entire month because you\nare running high levels of power over longer stretches of time. To ensure you\nkeep costs under control, you will need to align your charging schedules with\nyour drive cycles to minimize peak demand power use. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Deciding when and how to use power also depends on the infrastructure\nat your site. Upfitting an existing site with the appropriate electrical\nservice and infrastructure takes both time and money. And depending on the\nlevel of install you consider; it may also involve discussions with the utility\ncompany. If you are leasing the property, don\u2019t forget to include your landlord\nin the conversation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n In some cases, the utility company may not even be able to\nget the power you need to the property. If they need to upgrade transformers to\nget the power to you, who foots that bill and how can you be assured it will\neven happen when you need it to?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Don\u2019t Do It Alone<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Few fleets have the resources and inhouse expertise to pull\nsomething like this off by themselves. It is of vital importance that you work\nwith the utilities in your area and get expert advice on the transition. And\neven though there may be a cost associated with it, enlisting municipal help is\ncritical. Cities will sometimes pay a part of the cost for an infrastructure\nupgrade, but usually it is the utility company that foots most of the bill. <\/p>\n\n\n\n When evaluating how long it will take to get electrification\noff the ground for your fleet, consider the negotiations involved. If you do\nneed to work with a city or utility, it is very likely you will need to\nnegotiate pricing, which will increase overall lead times. You will also\nprobably need to work with an engineering firm. Enlisting the help of an\nengineering firm you trust will also take some time and research. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Another partner you will need to find is a company that\nhandled installation and facility energy usage and storage. Whether it be\nadding solar or retrofitting lights to lessen the power load on the building, a\nthird-party installation provider can help you find out there are opportunities\nto be had. Should you use smart charging to balance electricity demand during\npeak times? If you can\u2019t answer these questions, your installation partner can.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n Fortunately, many utility companies, states and\nmunicipalities are getting in on the game. Some utility companies in\nCalifornia, as one example, have already begun reworking their rate structures\nto move away from peak demand hours and charges. Instead, they want to move to\nmore of a steady subscription model where the entity using the power is charged\nby how many kilowatts they need. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Subscription models can be adapted depending on how many\nelectric vehicles you run. Five vehicles might have one subscription while 10\nvehicles might have another. As utilities companies in California continue to\nadopt this model, we may see it become more popular nationwide, which is good\nnews for trucking companies who want to electrify their fleet. <\/p>\n\n\n\n As with anything new, there will be different approaches for every scenario. Purchasing electricity as a fuel is a completely new experience for everyone involved. There is no one size fits all approach. Fleets will need to ramp up their negotiation game and get good at observing what their competitors are doing in the electrification space. <\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n While the transition from diesel to electric power is\nanything but seamless, there are incentives to adopting this technology.\nWhether it be to save money on fuel or to put a shine on your company\u2019s\nsustainability efforts, electrifying your fleet is now out of the mainstream.\nIndeed, as the years go by, we may eventually see a time when diesel variants\nare suddenly in the minority. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"