Real-time EV data: up to 24.5% savings across your fleet.

In the European Union, over the first six months of 2023, only 12% of new vehicles purchased by companies were electric. Yet the corporate market was widely expected to lead the automotive energy transition. To fleet managers’ credit, the switch to full-EV is no small feat: it involves radical changes in a company’s organization, mindset, habits and even infrastructure — with a significant risk of productivity losses and financial setbacks.

Fleet managers are not, however, entirely at a loss when facing this necessary transition. By carefully analyzing how their current fleet is used, they can determine which vehicles and/or drivers are eligible for a switch to electric. That is exactly the kind of analysis enabled by a tool like Echoes’ CarFleet, which centralizes the data transmitted in real time by the vehicles — with no device to install and no intervention on the fleet.

Electric transition: France lags behind

Take France as an example: electric cars accounted for no more than 11% of the company-fleet market in the first half of 2023 — below the European average. Yet the Mobility Orientation Law (LOM), enacted at the end of 2019, imposed a strict timetable on companies for acquiring green vehicles (under 60 g of CO2/km):

1. 10% of fleet renewal from 1 January 2022
2. 20% from 1 January 2024
3. 40% from 1 January 2027
4. 70% from 1 January 2030

Unfortunately, without penalties, it is hard to motivate companies to meet these thresholds.

66% of companies, 64% of local governments and 87% of state administrations failed to meet the legal quotas for greening their fleets.

Transport & Environment (NGO)

Real-time data comes to fleet managers’ rescue

In this context, it is essential to help fleet managers prepare for and carry out this transition. Echoes’ CarFleet tool offers an in-depth analysis of how both the internal-combustion and electric fleets are used, thanks to real-time data generated and transmitted natively by the vehicle to the manufacturer. Collected by Echoes with no intervention on the vehicle — through agreements with every manufacturer — the data is then processed, consolidated and displayed in the interface.

Valuable information for understanding how the internal-combustion fleet is used and identifying which drivers or vehicles are the easiest candidates for conversion to electric. For each vehicle, Echoes surfaces:

• Trip history: location, mileage, driving time.
• Average and total consumption of the vehicle.
• How often the vehicle is refueled.

Enough to finely analyze drivers’ habits and spot those most suited to going electric: employees who make only short trips, those with low average consumption (already mindful of eco-driving), or those who keep their vehicle at home overnight and could charge it there.

Real-time management of the electric fleet

Better still, for the electric vehicles (EVs) a company has acquired, real-time data analysis lets managers get the most out of their low-emission fleet:

• By spotting the “hogging” cars that stay plugged into the company’s charging points even once fully charged.
• By flagging plug-in hybrids that aren’t charged often enough — at the risk of their fuel consumption soaring.
• By being alerted to excess consumption from certain EV drivers, to coach them on eco-driving if needed.
• By ensuring the best possible rotation of electric vehicles among staff.

An electric fleet is also cheaper

That said, environmental awareness cannot — and should not — be a company’s only motivation to switch to an electric fleet. The superiority of zero-emission vehicles in Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) is now well established. The long-term leasing company LeasePlan analyzed the European market and worked out the average TCO of a car (fuel/energy, depreciation, taxes, insurance and maintenance) across 22 countries, showing that:

Segment (avg. monthly TCO)	Electric	Diesel	Petrol	Plug-in hybrid
Segment B	€697	€774	€753	—
Segment C	€735	€904	€868	€961
Segment D	€861	€1,140	€1,066	€1,114