This week, publicly traded U.S. energy and utilities giant Duke Energy announced that it is launching a new subsidiary to assist municipalities and businesses to electrify their commercial fleets. The company, eTransEnergy, will provide unregulated services to assist school districts, transit services and companies nationwide in transitioning to clean energy transportation options.
Duke Energy points to multiple benefits of fleet electrification, including reduced emissions, less noise, better performance and lower operating costs.
“Electrifying vehicles represents an incredible opportunity for our customers and communities to reduce carbon emissions,” said Doug Esamann, EVP of Energy Solutions for Duke Energy. “Through eTransEnergy, we’re offering a low-risk, realistic solution for customers to transform their fleets.”
As a wholly owned subsidiary of Duke Energy, eTransEnergy will be able to leverage its corporate parent’s years of experience working with commercial electric fleets, managing total cost of ownership and maintaining supporting infrastructure. eTransEnergy will provide customers with comprehensive infrastructure planning, smart charging technology, on-site solar energy generation, battery backup options and other aspects of EV fleet management.
“We understand the unique needs of fleet operators and our goal is to simplify the complex process of scaled electric fleet adoption,” eTransEnergy Managing Director Greg Fields said.
eTransEnergy will work commercial electric original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) to provide customers with access to the vehicle that best meets their needs. In addition, and in support of distributed technologies like electric vehicles, Duke Energy will continue to work across service areas to strengthen and improve the electric grid. With eTransEnergy services available across North America, Duke Energy will work with local utilities to support updates to the energy grid and other infrastructure as needed.
Duke Energy has pledged to convert 100 percent of its nearly 4,000 light-duty vehicles to electric and 50 percent of its approximately 6,000 combined fleet of medium-duty, heavy-duty and off-road vehicles to EVs, plug-in hybrids or other zero-carbon alternatives by 2030.
To help spur EV adoption, Duke Energy is launching several pilot programs that deliver a more expansive charging infrastructure throughout its service territories. In Florida, the company’s pilot is off the ground with over 570 charging stations nearing completion. Duke Energy has received approvals for pilots in North Carolina and South Carolina as well, and has a proposal pending in Ohio.
And from Europe
A new study released jointly this week from EY and Eurelectric argues that electrifying Europe’s commercial fleet would offer the biggest and fastest contribution to decarbonizing the continent’s road transport. The report’s authors say fleet electrification should be top priority in meeting European carbon reduction targets.
EY analysts note that Europe’s fleet sector, though relatively small at 63 million vehicles (20 percent of Europe’s total vehicle parc), does outsized damage to the environment, accounting for more than 40 percent of total kilometers traveled and half of total transportation emissions.
EY’s research expects smaller commercial vehicles–company cars, last-mile delivery vehicles, pool cars, and work-related light commercial vehicles–to electrify fastest. But the case is valid for all segments of commercial transportation. Fleets share a number of characteristics–predictability of journeys, the relative constancy of daily mileage/kilometers traveled, fixed destinations and stopovers–which make them unusually conducive to charging. The stability and predictability of their daily usage pattern make it easy to incorporate charging in the maintenance routine.
There’s also a strong cost case. EY notes that total cost of ownership (TCO) for EVs is fast approaching par with internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles. Incentives and grants can bridge the upfront cost gap. Lower costs for service, maintenance and fuel costs mean EVs are ultimately cheaper to run.
In addition, EY says, lessons learned from accelerating fleet electrification–i.e., development of sustainable business models tot support charging infrastructure investment and smart charging–will hasten and smooth the transition for the secondary and passenger vehicle market. As a result, they say, fleet electrification offers the most impactful test case.
