The electrification of commercial fleets is rapidly unfolding. As fleet operators transition to electric vehicles (EVs), they’re faced with a challenge: in addition to continually monitoring, managing and planning their fleet operations, they must also suddenly become aware of grid infrastructure as they become significant energy consumers. Doing so requires a strategic approach to managing charging infrastructure, optimizing energy costs and ensuring grid stability.

Thankfully, owners and operators of newly electrified fleets aren’t left to figure this out entirely on their own. They can collaborate with utility providers and lean on smart EV charging and energy management software to optimize the usage of existing energy while minimizing costs.

Fleet electrification momentum

Electrification of commercial fleets is accelerating globally, driven by favorable long-term economics and the need to clean the carbon-intensive transportation industry. This momentum applies globally to commercial fleets with various use cases, including service, delivery and corporate fleets. In China, electric heavy-duty trucks have achieved a 14% market share, with over 100,000 units on the road as of early 2025. In the United States, most fleets expect to own an EV in the near-to mid-term future. A recent survey found that 87% of fleet owners expected to have EVs in their fleet in the next five years. The global light-duty vehicle fleet is expected to account for a total of 2.21 billion vehicles by the end of 2025.

Fleet electrification is a critical solution to reducing greenhouse gas emissions from the transportation industry. The transportation industry in the United States is the largest source of total greenhouse gas emissions, accounting for about 28% of total GHG emissions. Fleets play a significant role in the United States economy, especially when you consider that over 70% of all U.S. goods are transported by delivery shipments supported by fleet vehicles. Continuing business-as-usual with internal combustion engine (ICE) fleets not only deepens environmental harm, but it also exposes companies and supply chains to growing financial, regulatory and reputational risks. Change in the transportation industry isn’t just necessary, it’s urgent.

While fleet EVs generally have higher upfront purchase prices, their operating costs are significantly lower. Over the lifespan of a vehicle and at the scale in which fleets operate, these savings can rapidly accumulate. Amazon has reported that its Rivian electric delivery vans cost less to operate on a per-mile basis than diesel alternatives. The Zero Emission Transportation Alliance reports that fueling a vehicle with electricity can be between three and five times cheaper per mile than gasoline. Additionally, EVs can require fewer repairs than ICE vehicles, as they have fewer mechanical considerations — with no oil changes needed, fewer brake replacements required and more simplified drivetrains. Across this range of factors, it’s clear that electric fleets are an increasingly smart financial decision.

With favorable long-term economics and ongoing developments in charging infrastructure, vehicle and battery technology, the electrified fleet is the fleet of the future. It’s only a matter of time, and as we get there, we create a future that benefits businesses, the economy and the environment, sustaining our industry for generations to come.

But how can fleet operators and utility providers bring robust charging environments and the electric fleet future to fruition? By working together and adopting smart EV charging management solutions that enable scalable, reliable and cost-effective infrastructure.

Collaboration between utility providers and fleet operators

Proactive, data-informed collaboration between utility providers and fleet operators is extremely essential to successful fleet electrification.

The first step is assessing grid capacity at proposed depot locations. Fleet operators must be able to share projected load profiles that include expected charging schedules, accurate peak demand forecasts and long-term scaling plans.

Utilities should conduct site-specific analyses that include the evaluation of transformer sizing, feeder capacity and substation proximity. Shared visibility into demand and existing power constraints allows both parties to make informed decisions.

The next step is outlining cost and timeline assessments for necessary upgrades. Permitting, engineering design, construction and commissioning are all factors that can cause timelines to run from several months to multiple years. Some forward-thinking utilities offer fleet electrification teams or dedicated experts to help streamline this process and maintain schedule and cost transparency. It’s very important that collaboration and planning occur around infrastructure investments, as who pays for these investments and how much is being paid is often negotiated on a case-by-case basis.

Early in the process and collaborative engagement between fleet operators and utilities leads to better outcomes across the board. Faster timelines, lower costs and a more resilient localized grid all result from treating fleet charging infrastructure planning as a joint venture.

Solving for complexities

Fleet electrification can be complex. It requires planning and precision, both of which are nothing new to fleet operators.

Successfully electrifying a fleet involves a comprehensive strategy that addresses grid capacity, peak demand charges and time-of-use (TOU) rates. Fleet owners and operators must understand the costs associated with charging under peak demand and make charging and vehicle deployment scheduling adjustments to avoid these substantial costs. This comes on top of navigating the various TOU rates throughout the day, while still charging fleet vehicles on schedules that won’t hamper deliveries and services. Vehicles must remain ready-to-deploy; it’s a complicated and delicate balance to find favorable rates while accommodating driver schedules.

Without additional expertise and visibility afforded through real-time data to manage these complexities, fleet operators will run into unforeseen costs and operational inefficiencies. They need proactive tools that help keep vehicles on the road, with charging that doesn’t overload the grid or break budgets.

The role of smart energy management software

Drivers of EV fleet vehicles need a seamless charging experience that produces a vehicle that is always fully powered, when and where they need it. Fleet managers must have charging that works around their schedule, as opposed to needing to build their schedule and routes around charging. Incoming vehicles must be efficiently matched with available chargers to ensure that all EVs can charge and depart on schedule.

A software solution for EV smart charging and energy management is crucial in realizing these outcomes. It can even help drivers after they depart their fleet-owned depot. Advanced software systems and apps can aid drivers and fleet managers in locating charging stations adjacent to planned routes, minimizing delays for on-the-road charging.

The right EV fleet management platform will optimize fleet utilization, save charging and planning time, reduce costs and maintain operational excellence. It’ll also allow the flexibility and scalability that lets fleets grow without outgrowing their charging infrastructure. And it’ll do all of this without needing to be a standalone platform.

The right smart energy management software platforms provide:

Seamless integration for operational efficiency

Centralized EV charging and energy management platforms need seamless integration. The right platforms can manage EV fleet charging while being compatible with other systems already being used by fleet managers to control operations and plan vehicle routes and availability. Choosing a platform with maximum interoperability is also recommended to ensure that charging stations can reliably communicate with a variety of vehicles, leading to a higher rate of successful first-time charge attempts. As fleets scale and vehicle and charger technology continues to develop, fleet managers will want platforms that work across as wide a range of charging hardware options, both to retain flexibility when selecting vendors during deployment and to ensure compatibility across diverse hardware in day-to-day operations.

To integrate charging management, platforms must use intuitive tools that let fleet managers and drivers create plans for the entire vehicle journey, which truly begins at the charging pump, before a vehicle departs a fleet depot. This holistic view is possible with API integrations between the EV management platform and legacy fleet solutions. Doing so allows fleet managers to develop fleet schedules that cover arrivals, departures, energy requirements and route mapping, and do so under one unified and interactive system.

For all fleets to be operational, all chargers need to be as well. With hundreds of various models of chargers available from dozens of manufacturers, chargers can be fickle and subject to unique malfunctions. An integrated EV charging management platform can help a fleet’s chargers remain ready at all times by using 24/7 monitoring to detect malfunctions. This allows a fleet manager to adjust the charging schedule as needed. Seamless integration of these platforms makes charging a natural part of the journey, and less of an addition to fleet managers’ already complicated workloads.

Cost savings

Electrified fleets managed with EV charging and energy management platforms are ripe for cost savings opportunities. To realize these benefits, fleet managers need to be strategic in balancing load and optimizing usage while managing consumption to minimize costs.

Solutions should balance energy demand during peak charging periods while also maximizing the use of local energy resources to offset peak charging costs at the same time. Knowing when to tap into on-site battery storage and renewable energy to achieve cost savings is a key component of smart EV charging and energy management software.

These solutions can use dynamic load balancing and peak shaving to optimize TCO by increasing the number of EV charging stations a depot can handle by up to 6X more than unmanaged stations, all on existing electrical infrastructure. Additionally, fleets that use managed charging to charge overnight on lower-power chargers generate as much as 20% cost savings on energy. This off-peak charging strategy not only lowers electricity costs, but also helps avoid expenditures on charger or infrastructure upgrades.

The maturation of emerging flexibility markets will create opportunities for profit for fleet operators using smart energy management. With this approach, fleets can opt out of charging when energy is unavailable and receive compensation from utility demand response programs for doing so. These programs enable aggregators to discourage charging during certain hours of the day and allow utilities to balance and distribute energy without undertaking infrastructure upgrades or added power generation. Using reliable and smart EV fleet management software will turn the demand response challenge into an opportunity for both fleet managers and utility-side stakeholders.

Fleet vehicles must be kept charged on a predictable rolling basis, and fleet managers must get the most out of their existing depots and facilities in doing so. Cost savings paired with operational efficiency are vital, and software solutions that naturally facilitate this are game-changers.

Network health

Charging infrastructure must be secure, steadily functioning and have enough energy available to charge the vehicle when the driver arrives. To ensure this is the case, fleet managers need real-time visibility into the health and availability of their full charging network. They can use clear views of charger operations and utilization to ensure that everything is working properly and that charger stability and availability are maintained.

Self-healing capabilities are an especially crucial component of an efficient fleet EV charging and energy management platform. This allows charging network issues to be remotely identified and resolved. With the right platform, up to 80% of operational-related EV charger issues can be solved proactively and automatically. That’s a huge benefit in both improved network uptime and lowered maintenance costs.

Integrated real-time visibility coupled with self-healing capabilities produces operational excellence and a stable and reliable charging environment for commercial EV fleets.

Conclusion

Fleet electrification presents a transformative opportunity for operators to reduce emissions and operating costs, while also increasing control and creating side revenue streams within flexible energy markets. But without the right solutions and partnerships, the transition’s challenges can be daunting. By collaborating closely with utility providers and embracing smart energy management software, fleet operators can ensure a cost-effective and sustainable electrified future.