Choosing the best electric cars for your fleet
Made the exciting decision to transition to an electric car fleet but wondering what EVs to choose? From compact city cars to luxury SUVs, the electric car market is brimming with plenty of great options. But with so many choices, it can be a challenge to work out which EVs suit you and your business best.
There’s a lot to consider when looking at EVs for your business, including range, performance, charging speed. We’ve explored a few of the key factors so you can find the best fleet cars for your business. We can tailor our business contract hire leases to fit your business needs.
The benefits of electric cars for fleets
Electric cars are becoming more and more popular so it’s a great time to consider EVs for your business. Switching to an electric fleet is a great way of future-proofing your business,meeting your sustainability goals and can help you save money.
Electrifying your fleet means big cost savings on fuel, maintenance, benefit in kind (BIK) tax, road tax, congestion charges, and possibly even VAT too.
Still not enough to convince you? Well, there are numerous benefits that electric cars bring for the environment too, like emitting zero tailpipe emissions, using greener energy sources, and causing less noise pollution. All this could equal a big win for your environmental goals.
What does your fleet need?
So, how do you choose the best electric fleet cars? A great first step is to decide what you really need from your fleet. Here are a few key questions to consider:
- What type and length of journeys will your drivers be making? Long cross-country motorway drives or quick, local city trips?
- What kind of space will your employees need? Will they have lots of equipment or baggage and need plenty of room in the boot? Or would a compact car that gets them from A to B suit them?
- Is style important? Do you want to give a certain brand image when meeting clients or making deliveries? ?
Considering what you need from your electric car fleet is a good starting point to help you better decide the most important features to include and prioritise.
Range and battery capacity
How far do your drivers typically travel in a day? Calculating journey lengths can help you figure out exactly what electric vehicle range you need.
Consider whether you want your EV range to cover a full day’s travel needs, where possible, or whether you plan for your drivers to charge between smaller trips. A lot of modern electric cars come with 200 to 300 mile ranges, which might be more than enough for a few daily trips, but may not be enough for lots of longer journeys. There's a lot of long range EVs on offer that might better suit your business.
The best EVs for your business should have a range that exceeds your fleet's normal requirements. This gives your drivers a buffer zone to allow for weather, terrain, and driving speeds that might use your charge quicker.
How fast do you need your EV to charge?
If your drivers travel many miles in an average work day, charging speed could be an important part of your decision. Different electric car models have different maximum charge speeds, so it’s worth taking their charging speed into consideration to make sure your drivers aren’t hanging around unnecessarily waiting for their car to charge.
Where will you charge your EVs?
Of course you need to think about how you’re going to charge your fleet when switching to electric with business contract hire. Whichever models you pick, remember the cost of charging an electric car is typically much cheaper if you charge slowly at home or at a workplace overnight. Rapid public charging probably wouldn’t be your first choice for every charge, but it’s great to have as a backup.
If you plan to prioritise slow, cheaper home or workplace charging, consider how this might affect the range your cars need. If you plan on installing rapid workplace chargers, you’ll need to choose cars that have an efficient charging speed to optimise this feature.
If you plan on using a more flexible combination of home, work, and public charging, consider setting up an integrated payment system, like Electroverse, to simplify charging for your drivers and consolidate all your employee charging bills in one place.
Comparing models for your fleet
When searching for your perfect fleet vehicle, it’s a good idea to check what different types of electric vehicles are on the market to figure out what suits your needs, as there are new models launching all the time.
When you’re ready to switch your business fleet to electric, start by narrowing down what you want out of the car so our team can help you make the best decision.
Consider total cost of ownership (aka TCO)
With our business contract hire your upfront payment can be flexible, ranging from 1 to 12 months. As you’d expect, the higher the upfront cost, the lower your monthly rental will be.
Business contract hire for electric cars is like a pick and mix deal, so you start with the car, then decide if you’d like maintenance included. If you do choose maintenance cover, this can lower the cost in the long term and there’d be no surprises if one of your EVs needs to be repaired.
Need a hand choosing the best electric cars for your business fleet?
Ready to make the exciting leap to an electric car fleet? With loads of options available, our team can help you choose the right EV for your business.
Electric cars not only future-proof your business, they can save you money and help reduce your environmental impact. To make sure you're making the right choice consider journey types, space requirements, and desired style. Range and battery capacity should align with your daily travel distances, while charging speed matters for high-mileage days. Figure out where you'll charge, whether it's slow home/workplace charging or utilising rapid public charging as a backup.
Get ready to hit the road in style, save money, and contribute to a greener future! If you want to find out more about taking your fleet electric, get in touch with the team.
