june2023 - 23

Vetting EV reliability
According to CALSTART, as of the end of 2022,
fleets had 136 (non-pickup) choices to start their
electrification journey.
Ryder, which runs the gamut of transportation
solutions, from leasing and used sales to maintenance
and supply chain management, has vetted a
large swath of these solutions at every duty cycle,
such as Freightliner's eCascadia and eM2, as well
as the MT50e chassis, and Navistar's Lonestar
EV (using Dana's e-powertrain). Ryder also has
reserved Tesla Semi tractors.
In the van segment, Ryder has Ford e-Transits,
and by 2025 will lease up to 4,000 of General
Motor's BrightDrop Zevo 400 and Zevo 600 medium-duty
electric vans. Add to that yard tractors,
buses, and soon electric refrigerated trailers.
At ACT Expo in May, Ryder also launched
RyderElectric+, which it calls a " turnkey electric
vehicle fleet solution " to help fleets navigate the
electrification process by bundling the vehicles,
charging, telematics, and maintenance all for one
price, with advisers available as well.
" We aim to help make the integration of electric
vehicles as seamless as possible by offering solutions
that are streamlined through one provider
at one cost, " said Karen Jones, Ryder CMO and
head of new product innovation at the unveiling.
Not all vetted solutions work out. As far back
as the summer of 2017, Ryder was providing
exclusive maintenance for Workhorse's electric
step vans and even started a short-term leasing
program with the Workhorse C-Series in 2020.
Production of that model halted on the heels
of a recall due to reliability issues. Workhorse
launched a new electric van, the W56, in March
at Work Truck Week in Indianapolis.
Whether the EV heads into series production,
as the eCascadia and eM2 have, or gets retooled
by the OEM, Ryder gleans new insights. Fleets can
purchase the comprehensive form of this wisdom
via the company's EV Shop startup guide.
Arun Chickmenahalli, director of maintenance
and research and development for advanced vehicle
technology at Ryder, said the strategy is a " clear
path for the shops to adhere to-a process-driven
approach while implementing EVs. "
He shared some of Ryder's approach to vetting
EVs and developing a maintenance program with
Fleet Maintenance this spring.
For Chickmenahalli, proving EVs are reliable
and that users develop " a good cadence for maintenance
activities " will be critical to ensuring electrification
succeeds. He said Ryder does extensive
technical and OEM evaluations to discern which
EVs offer customers the best value.
He noted while about two-thirds of an EV is the
same as a conventional truck, the electric components
that constitute the other third are quite
different and servicers must start planning on
how to adjust operations to accommodate them.
" The majority of OEMs " allow Ryder to perform
diagnostics and in-house warranty work,
Chickmenahalli noted, but some prefer to " learn
for themselves " first. This creates a maintenance
firewall, where Ryder isn't sure what it will take
to maintain these trucks.
» Ryder technicians go through extensive
training before working on EVs.
Ryder
» Ryder began testing several EVs of various duty cycles, and launched RyderElectric+ in May.
Ryder
" It is definitely restrictive for us not
to be doing all the high-voltage work.
In the interim, we should be learning. "
Arun Chickmenahalli, director of maintenance and research and
development for advanced vehicle technology, Ryder
" It is definitely restrictive for us not to be doing
all the high-voltage work, " he offered. " In the interim,
we should be learning. "
Each OEM does things a little differently-
from battery chemistry to power management
to charging-and that expands to each class
segment. " There is not one simple process
that you can follow for one technology, "
Chickmenahalli explained.
Simple, no. But still possible. Ryder still needs to
come up with maintenance plans for any vehicle
it plans to lease or service, such as how to visually
inspect for nicks in wire harnesses or corrosion
on the battery.
Prior to an EV coming to a Ryder shop, the
company executes an EV technician training
plan, developed in conjunction with the OEM. This
includes how to implement Ryder-developed tools,
equipment, and PPE to ensure safety.
" Some of the training is very specific to their
technology that will not be adaptable to another
technology, " Chickmenahalli said.
Each shop gets a rollout guide and the responsibilities
of each employee are laid out ahead of time.
Chickmenahalli follows a strict Six Sigma methodology
and checks the progress of those shops
through quality audits 60 to 90 days after " to see
if they're adhering to the policies and procedures. "
While this is going on, Ryder scores the EV on
several fronts, such as issue resolution, diagnostics,
field trials, production readiness, training
and documentation, and vehicle communication.
The technical evaluation questionnaire comprises
128 questions.
" We come up with a level of confidence with
this OEM or a technology provider-basically a
matrix that we define, " he said.
Even with this level of evaluation,
Chickmenahalli said for Class 3 and higher, it
will take one full lifecycle-5 to 7 years-to fully
understand what it will take to maintain CEVs
in terms of what components break down, how
warranty repairs will work, the parts supply
chain, and several other aspects.
June 2023 | FleetMaintenance.com
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june2023

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