june2023 - 24

Figuring out TCO
Theoretically, electric trucks should be better
for the environment and a company's bottom
line-the ultimate win-win. To verify this, fleets
will need years of data comparing the costs of
their diesel operations versus EVs. But adopting
these trucks doesn't have to be a leap of faith,
according to Fleet Advantage.
The company, which offers data analytics,
equipment financing, and life cycle cost management,
recently unveiled a new digital tool EVAN
(Electric Vehicle Analytic Navigator) to estimate
these assets' total costs of ownership for individual
fleets. The lifecycle cost analysis tool takes into
account several variables, including equipment
and charging costs, incentives, and maintenance
cost per mile through a truck's first six years, and
provides a side-by-side comparison with a comparable
diesel tractor.
Armed with this knowledge, fleets can better
determine if adopting EVs now will ensure future
profitability as well as sustainability.
" Everybody has different needs; they have
different reasons for doing it, " noted Hadley
Benton, EVP of business development at Fleet
Advantage. " But ultimately, [electrification] needs
to make economic sense at the same time, balancing
that with reducing your greenhouse gas emissions
and greening your fleet. "
That's not always going to be the case. One EVAN
example provided by Fleet Advantage found a
food service fleet running in Florida would save
$43,609 over six years to stick with diesel when
leasing. In this case, the EV had a $0.03 better
maintenance and repair (M & R) CPM over six
years, and a decisive edge in fuel costs, with a
$0.15 charge cost per kWh versus $4.13 diesel
cost per gallon. These could not offset the 2024
BEV's upfront cost of $236,000 (versus $145,000
for the diesel tractor) and ensuing finance fees.
The disparity was even more apparent when
EVAN crunched the numbers for a Hawaiian
grocery fleet. Leasing a diesel truck versus
battery-electric would yield a 110% better TCO:
$205,361 for the diesel; $443,889 for the BEV (due
to much higher electrical costs in Hawaii).
Benton noted while Fleet Advantage has
" billions of miles of data on diesel trucks, " they
had to rely on data supplied by OEMs to make the
EV assumptions. Even with more and more fleets
adopting, the technology is " all very new, " he said.
Benton, who has specialized in fleet risk
management for much of his 30-year career in the
industry, explained all the uncertainty surrounding
what type of battery chemistry will win out, or
where fuel cells might see more adoption, " creates
risk and drives the cost up. "
At some point, these questions will be sorted
out and the risks will be reduced, allowing the
advantages of EVs to stand out.
" The maintenance and repair costs are probably
going to be about 25% less than a diesel from what
we've seen so far-and could be as much as 30%, "
Benton said. " The fuel cost advantage is probably
about 40-45%. "
It's not clear when OEMs will find ways to
reduce upfront costs as they scale production,
24 Fleet Maintenance | June 2023
$214,912
FUEL EXPENSE
$117,078
FUEL EXPENSE
Diesel vs. BEV 6-year TCO comparison using EVAN tool
(Food service fleet domiciled in Florida)
$28,529
M&R EXPENSE
$38,038
M&R EXPENSE
$138,720
FINANCE EXPENSE
$289,674
FINANCE EXPENSE
2024 DIESEL TRACTOR
Total: $391,671
2024 BEV TRACTOR
Total: $435,280
Diesel savings: $43,609 ($606 per month)
Source: Fleet Advantage
" Early adopters are usually the ones that
help fund the transition. It seems like with
electric vehicles, that's not the case. "
Terry Rivers, VP of maintenance, Cox Automotive Mobility Fleet
Services and sr. manager of vehicle services training
but when they do, those maintenance and fuel
savings will provide a better TCO argument. So
fleets should be analyzing where they currently
stand and what duty cycles BEVs might flourish
in, Benton argued. " You've got to consider your
options and start thinking about what the future
holds and set some goals, " he said.
In this respect, it's much riskier to procrastinate
until regulations force fleets to decarbonize and
try to play catch up.
" By then it's too late; they'll be left behind, " he
concluded.
Repowering
One way to circumvent those high initial costs is
to convert existing fossil fuel trucks to an EV. Cox
Automotive found this allows their team to start
learning about deploying EVs without incurring
the usually steep learning curve costs.
" Early adopters are usually the ones that help
fund the transition, " said Terry Rivers, VP of
maintenance for Cox Automotive Mobility Fleet
Services and sr. manager of vehicle services training.
" It seems like with electric vehicles, that's not
the case. "
At least that's not the case when Cox transplanted
an electric powertrain into a disabled
2017 Sprinter van used for mobile maintenance.
" The motor blew and to replace, it's about
$25,000, " Rivers explained. " We converted it
for $45,000. "
Cox was assisted by a repowering company
called ZEVX, and Vanair installed four 5,000-w
june2023

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of june2023
