As most early adopters of electric vehicles (EVs) have learned the hard way, electrifying a commercial fleet is not just business as usual. Successful fleet electrification requires new knowledge, new internal stakeholders, and a partner model built for the challenge. This is why a growing number of fleets are moving from a legacy Fleet Management Company (FMC) to an eFMC.
Key takeaways
- Electrifying a commercial fleet is fundamentally different from managing internal combustion vehicles, and it requires new knowledge, new internal stakeholders, and new vendors.
- EV fueling shifts from a public good to a corporate responsibility, because each fleet has to design, build, operate, or lease charging for every vehicle, route, and location.
- Most legacy Fleet Management Companies and corporate procurement processes have not evolved to handle this new reality.
- An eFMC combines traditional fleet management with charging, energy, and technology under a single partner.
- Inspiration launched its eFMC model in 2021.
Why electrifying a fleet is not business as usual
Most early adopters of electric vehicles have learned the hard way that electrifying a commercial fleet is not just business as usual. Corporate fleet managers and procurement teams are highly skilled at purchasing, maintaining, and selling internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles, and at evaluating legacy Fleet Management Companies. Introducing EVs successfully calls for a different set of capabilities. It brings new internal stakeholders into the process, including facilities, real estate, energy, and sustainability teams, and it introduces new vendors and new risks that traditional fleet operations were never built to manage.
How EV fueling changes the fleet manager’s job
The biggest shift is how the fleet gets fueled. With gas and diesel, fueling is effectively a public good, because every driver can simply use the nearest gas station. Electrification turns fueling into a corporate responsibility. Each fleet now has to design, build, operate, or lease an electric fueling system for every vehicle, every route, and every location. That single change causes the complexity of an EV fleet deployment to expand exponentially, and it is the part of the transition that legacy processes are least prepared for.
Why legacy FMCs and RFP processes fall short
The problem is that most corporate procurement systems, and the legacy FMCs that historically responded to their RFPs, have not evolved to meet this new reality. That mismatch tends to produce suboptimal results, and it usually shows up in one of two ways.
In the first, a company runs its standard fleet RFP process and treats EVs and the electrification journey as just another ancillary service. This ignores the real complexity of charging and leaves the fleet hoping its legacy FMC will somehow figure it out. In the second, a company treats fleet and charging as two entirely different beasts and runs one RFP for the fleet and a separate RFP for charging infrastructure. The result is missed connections, lost opportunities for synergy and coordination, and more complexity, risk, and cost.
How an eFMC delivers successful electrification
There is a better way. In response to this market gap, and to the repeated frustrations that fleet managers and operational leaders shared about the poor results of their early electrification efforts, Inspiration launched its eFMC model in 2021.
The eFMC was designed from the ground up to deliver successful fleet electrification at scale. It draws on a team of experts across fleet management, vehicle leasing, charging, energy management, and technology to devise and implement a custom electrification strategy for every fleet. In practice, that means combining the best of legacy FMCs with a comprehensive set of charging solutions, delivered on a modern technology platform. With an eFMC, you get one expert partner responsible for the whole of your electrification journey rather than just a piece of the puzzle. Electrification is different, and your fleet management partner needs to be different too.
Frequently asked questions
What does eFMC stand for?
An eFMC is an electrification Fleet Management Company, a fleet partner model built specifically for the transition to electric vehicles.
How is an eFMC different from a traditional FMC?
A traditional FMC focuses on vehicle purchasing, maintenance, and remarketing. An eFMC adds charging, energy management, and technology under one partner, so the fleet and its fueling are handled together instead of separately. For a full comparison, see how to choose an eFMC vs a traditional fleet management company.
When did Inspiration launch its eFMC model?
Inspiration launched its eFMC model in 2021.
Why can’t a legacy FMC handle EV fleets on its own?
Legacy FMCs and corporate procurement processes were built for internal combustion vehicles and have not evolved for the complexity of charging, the new stakeholders EVs involve, or the new risks they introduce.