In the final panel of the Fleet Electrification Forum, attendees heard about the progress on making the best use of shared charging infrastructure for fleets.
The discussion was chaired by Simon Cordery, Senior Advisor, New Resource Partners and featured Harry Fox, CEO & Co-Founder at Hubber; Jamie Sands, Head of Solutions, Welch Group; Nick Gibbins, Co-founder and CEO, Enquip Energy; Judy O’Keefe, Director – Fleet Management, Openreach.
Fox said that operating in the London property market is “one of the biggest challenges in the world”. He said to close the gap on grid and cost constraints around electric vehicle (EV) charging, shared depots were “one way to get there faster”.
Sands added that it wasn’t the connection process that was a blocker, but “planning and access which was the problem”.
He added that the idea of shared depots “wasn’t new to Welch Group”, stating:
“We don’t have fuel cards. We buy fuel from local depots. I don’t see why that can’t work with electrification. The question is how to scale. The data doesn’t exist yet, because we are generating it now.”
Sands also said that realism and creating a sense of what can be done would be critical on the road to net-zero.
He said: “The logistics industry works on fine margins. So you need a huge amount of trust. We need to flip the script and talk about the opportunities that sustainability can bring.
“It goes beyond what is preferable to what is realistic in the timeframe of net-zero.”
Nick Gibbins said the challenge about working with landlords and tenants was a critical part of the puzzle.
He said: “They find every reason to not work together, until you come up with an opportunity that demonstrates value, then they wake up, as the real estate market is really tough at the moment.”
Discussing the issue of data to inform decision making around shared charging, Judy O’Keefe said that “EVs are like spaceships” and “the data is on them, don’t forget that there is a lot you can collect from the vehicles”.
