Geotab recently released its ‘Taking Charge: On the Road to an EV Future‘ report, which found that two-thirds of vehicles (cars and vans) operated by private and public sector organizations in the UK are ready to go electric. Geotab said its report analyzed driver data from 1.3 million vehicles across seven countries over 12 months. It found fleets switching to EVs could reduce 2.2 billion gallons of fuel from conventional vehicles while avoiding approximately 19 million metric tons (approx. 20.9 tons) of CO2 emissions over the next seven years.
From the analysis, Geotab said the UK was also singled out as the most EV-suitable market in Europe, despite having some of the poorest national EV incentives on offer compared to the other European countries in the report. France, Germany, Italy and Spain offer EV buyers up-front purchase incentives, whereas the UK government withdrew the Plug-in Car Grant in 2022, Geotab said.
Geotab found that 66% of light-duty vehicles (cars and vans) in the UK are ready to go electric. The report said the UK’s EV suitability compares favorably to other markets covered in the report, which includes Canada (with an EV suitability of 50%), Spain (43%), the United States (38%), Germany (35%), Italy (28%), France (20%). Geotab said the 66% figure for the UK is based on a typical seven-year replacement cycle for a fleet vehicle. Expanding this period to 10 years would increase the percentage of fleet cars and vans in the UK ready to go electric to 73%, based on the fact that EVs have a longer usable lifespan than their petrol and diesel counterparts thanks to service, maintenance and repair (SMR) savings, Geotab said.
“The idea that the UK is not ready for mass EV adoption is a fallacy,” said David Savage, VP for UK and Ireland at Geotab. “On the contrary, it’s time for British businesses to double down on fleet electrification – not just for the good of the environment and our collective climate goals but for their bottom line. A CEO of a business operating a vehicle fleet could effectively pay their salary by going electric, thanks to EVs’ financial savings.”
Geotab said the report delves into real-world telematics data to understand the feasibility of transitioning from internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles to EVs within light-duty fleets, and the potential financial and CO2 savings available. The report revealed that by going electric, British private and public sector organizations could reduce the total cost of ownership (TCO) per vehicle by £13,279 (approx. $16,341) over seven years, equating to savings of £876,414 (approx. $1,078,309) on a large fleet of 100 vehicles.
These numbers were calculated using its EV Suitability Assessment (EVSA) tool, which helps fleets transition to electric vehicles, according to Geotab. The company said EVSA uses telematics data to understand a fleet’s specific needs to make a tailored EV adoption recommendation and it maps the fleet’s driving patterns against real-world EV performance metrics to pinpoint which fleet vehicles can be replaced with an EV available in that market. The tool also provides a forecast of the financial savings and environmental benefits of making the switch, taking into consideration the purchase price along with fuel and maintenance costs.
When evaluating the suitability of replacing an ICE vehicle with an EV, Geotab said it looks at two factors: Is there a range-capable electric model that can meet the existing daily driving requirements and does it make economic sense to make the switch?
For a replacement to be considered range-capable, Geotab explained that it needs to be able to drive 98% of the days that year on a single charge. For it to be considered suitable, the EV would have to be both range-capable and economical, i.e. have a TCO that is lesser or equal to a new replacement ICE model, according to Geotab.
