Fleet Forward Panel Recap: Unveiling EV Data Secrets
At the Fleet Forward Conference 2023, Arun Rajagopalan, Motorq’s Co-Founder and CEO, and Hari Nayar, VP of Electrification and Sustainability at Merchants Fleet, took the stage to discuss "Unveiling EV Data Secrets: Decoding Battery Health, Performance, and TCO."
The content in this blog post contains an edited Fleet Forward transcript updated for readability. The post sections are intended to be read alongside the corresponding slides.
Access the presentation slides here >
Quick Recap: Fleet Forward Panel
Knowing the true behavior of your EVs is key to maintaining their value. At the Fleet Forward Conference 2023, Motorq and Merchants Fleet covered these key takeaways:
- The U.S. is well into the "early adopter" stage of electric vehicles, with EV sales at more than 8%. We're now nearing the 13.5% chasm where the market will transition to the "early majority" stage — a tipping point where EV adoption will truly accelerate.
- When looking at TCO alone, an EV asset can save tens of thousands of dollars when compared to an ICE asset over a 5-year lifecycle, according to the data.
- Knowing State of Charge (SOC) is imperative when it comes to protecting the value of your EV battery. Using real analysis, this presentation outlines charge patterns and how to determine where they need to be improved.
Full Recap: Fleet Forward Panel
Introduction to EV Adoption: The Tipping Point and Crossing the Chasm
Protecting your EV assets with trustworthy vehicle insights has never been as relevant as it is today — even as media headlines warn of electric vehicle demand slowing.
Right now, about 8% of cars in the U.S. are electric. Some might say we're lagging, but it's important to know that countries with way more electric cars—between 20% and 80%—started their shift to electric much earlier than us. Even though some reports suggest a slowdown in our electric car adoption, our adoption rate is growing year over year.
In any technology, whether it is EVs, whether it is cell phones, whether it is a new software platform, there is always segmentation between innovators, early adopters, early majority...And any time a technology gets to about 8 to 10% of adopters, then you're actually crossing over from an early adopter phase to an early majority.
We're hitting almost 10% of new car sales being electric in the U.S., showing a solid move into the next phase of EV adoption. Last year, there was an EV shortage because the supply chain couldn't keep up with the growing demand. This year, even though there are more electric cars available on lots, the demand is still bringing us closer to an inevitable EV future.
Estimating EV Total Cost of Ownership: What Does TCO Mean?
TCO-related insights provide you with a way to calculate the cost of owning and operating a vehicle over time. More notably, these data points help businesses measure and reach the highest possible lifecycle savings on their vehicles.
For example, the conventional F150 (gas) when compared that to the F150 Lightning (BEV) showed a stark difference in total cost of ownership over each vehicle's 5 year lifecycles.
$21k
5-year lifecycle savings of $21,770 on the Ford F1 Lightning when compared to its ICE vehicle counterpart.
TCO is not the only metric in your toolkit when it comes to electrification. For instance, what if electricity cost increases unpredictably in your region? The TCO savings becomes less favorable. TCO analysis is a powerful tool, but it's only one output. There are many factors to assist businesses when measuring EV success such as regulatory frameworks, sustainability, the market a fleet is operating in, and more.
EV Charging and TCO
Where does most EV charging happen? Studies show that 80% of EV owners charge their vehicles at home. Home charging works, and it doesn't run up costs as much as public charging. For businesses with EV fleets, charging methods still typically include a mix of the three main charging solutions: home, depot, and public.
Here's what to keep in mind:
- Home charging works, but early adopters might use public charging
- Depot charging in a capital depot can still be cost-optimized
- The type of vehicle matters: I.e., Class C vehicles are compatible with depot charging but not public charging
EV Operations: Analysis of Battery Performance and Charge
You've adopted electric vehicles...What are their driving behaviors and charging patterns? These data points help determine the health of the battery which informs the health of the entire asset. Some EVs have 100 kWh or more battery capacity. Businesses can retain EV value even over long periods of EV usage, right up to the point of EV resale.
There is still some range anxiety in the market today. This is demonstrated in charging patterns we’re seeing in our data. Many EV drivers are not comfortable letting their battery go below around 25% on a regular basis. And, many are charging their EVs to 100% or plugging in when the vehicle is already sitting at a 90% charge.
The typical OEM recommendation is to charge no higher than 80-90% and to prevent the charge level from dropping below 10%. However, using sample Motorq customer data across 10,000 charging events, it is clear that many drivers continue to charge their vehicles to full capacity, even when reaching a 90% charge. Potentially, drivers need more guidance since they are currently charging in a way they believe safeguards them from low charge levels. The good news is, within this sample data, there have not been many situations where drivers are letting vehicles fall close to a 10% charge threshold.
To view the complete Fleet Forward panel content, access the full presentation here. We look forward to seeing you at Fleet Forward Conference 2024 to discuss more connected vehicle industry updates.