Commercial fleets

Most fleet operators consider the cost per kilometer per vehicle when evaluating alternative vehicle technologies. This includes everything from vehicle acquisition costs, charging infrastructure, maintenance, energy consumption (i.e., fuel), and incentives.

Prices of commercial EVs are falling: The most expensive component of electric vehicles—the battery—has dropped by 80% over the past eight years. A further decline of more than 50% is expected in the coming years, which should bring the upfront costs of many electric vehicles below those of their conventional competitors by 2030. Even today, the upfront costs can be significantly reduced through available grants and incentives.

The maintenance costs of electric transport vehicles are lower: All-electric vehicles use high-efficiency propulsion systems and have a simpler design with fewer moving parts than internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles. This allows for significant maintenance savings compared to conventional vehicles.

Electricity is the cheaper fuel: For ICE vehicle fleets, fuel costs for gasoline or diesel account for up to 1/3 of total vehicle costs. In addition, gasoline and diesel prices can be highly volatile. The penetration of renewable energy continues to reduce electricity costs. EVs also provide an opportunity to further reduce fuel costs by optimizing charging through schedules and billing when electricity prices are lowest. This optimization is not possible for traditional fleet fuels due to the advance purchase, transport, and storage of gasoline and diesel.

The result is that the fuel to power an EV (i.e., electricity) often costs less on a BGN/km basis compared to that consumed by gasoline and diesel-powered cars.