New EV fleet solutions for savings and compliance

ev fleet solutions

As a government fleet manager, you’re constantly looking for new ways to save time, money, and energy for your organization. The upcoming EV transition provides an opportunity to do just that.

The integration of EVs into public fleets can do a world of good for savings goals, compliance documentation, and proposed environmental initiatives. But if you’re unsure where to begin with EVs or need guidance for next steps, it may be wise to start at the planning stage to survey all your options.

Let’s look at a few ways that EV fleet solutions can help you maximize savings and regulatory compliance.

The benefits of switching to EV fleet solutions

The gas-powered fleet may still be the status quo, but it’s by no means the most efficient or cost-effective model to follow. The truth is that EVs come with many more benefits than gas-powered cars and trucks, and a wealth of evidence can prove it.

Research shows that EVs:

  • Reduce maintenance needs: Since EVs operate with motors rather than engines, you don’t need to worry about as many moving parts racking up repair or replacement costs. Studies show that EVs may have lower overall lifetime costs than traditional vehicles, putting more money back into your budget for other mission-critical objectives.
  • Lower fuel costs: EVs require less gasoline to reach their destinations. As electricity becomes cheaper and easier to produce, these costs may continue to drop over time.
  • Have fewer GHG emissions: Due to their reduced reliance on traditional fuel, EVs produce less greenhouse gas than other fleet vehicles. This remains the same even when accounting for electricity production emissions, ensuring a happier and healthier future for the public that you serve.

It’s clear that taking advantage of new fleet solutions could help your organization make the EV transition quickly, efficiently, and with confidence.

Let’s examine what each of these solutions may entail.

New EV fleet solutions for U.S. organizations

If you’re ready to join thousands of other organizations in the electric fleet transition, here are a few solutions to manage and optimize an EV fleet while saving money and remaining environmentally friendly.

1. New vehicle types

Electric fleet vehicle types are expanding rapidly, opening new doors of opportunity. Some of these new vehicle types, including electric school buses, are becoming more widely available.

You can turn to specialized organizations like Climate Mayors EV Purchasing Collaborative to browse prospective solutions at scale. You can also consider which vehicles make the most sense in your transitional efforts, especially over the next ten to twelve years.

2. Public charging infrastructure

One of the biggest barriers to EV fleet adoption was the lack of charging infrastructure. But due to the combined efforts of multiple organizations, this has become a challenge of the past.

A growing national network of public chargers enables governments to scale with confidence. Fleet vehicles have an increasing number of areas where they can charge while on the go and enjoy increased range with greatly reduced fuel costs as a result.

3. EV fleet management tools

Gone are the days of manual paperwork and physical papers for fleet vehicles. Today’s digital tools can help you pace your procurement process and make informed decisions regarding your next steps.

Consider this in a more practical light. According to current legislation, federal government fleets within the U.S. are expected to acquire 100% light-duty ZEVs by 2027 and 100% heavy-duty ZEVs by 2035. You can use fleet management software to audit your current ratio of gas vehicles to EVs, then determine a procurement timeline with an estimated budget and acquisition date.

4. Cooperative contracts

If you’re currently using traditional RFPs to procure EV equipment, it may be wise to transition to modern fleet solutions, such as cooperative contracts. Not only are cooperative contracts quicker, easier, and cheaper than traditional RFPs, but they may also provide access to better savings and compliance documentation for you and your organization.

Leveraging EV fleet solutions with cooperative contracts

There are two ways to procure goods during the EV fleet transition: traditional RFPs and cooperative contracts. When you look at the benefits of each, it’s clear that cooperative contracts are the most effective solution for EV procurement.

For one thing, you can browse competitively solicited contracts for dozens of EV solutions for your fleet. These include items and equipment like:

  • Parts and tires
  • Charging stations
  • Vehicles and chassis
  • Telematics
  • Trailers

Sourcewell enables you to browse cooperative contracts at your own pace. Registration is free, fast, and with no obligation, so you can get started as quickly as possible.

See how easy it is to get the EV fleet you need without the hassle using Sourcewell’s cooperative purchasing program. Streamline the public procurement process by choosing from hundreds of suppliers already on contract. Sourcewell’s procurement experts competitively solicit and award contracts on behalf of 50,000 participating agencies in North America. Sourcewell has been a government-empowering organization since 1978. Check out our contracts here.