Best of LinkedIn: Commercial Fleet Insights CW 40/ 41

00:00:00: brought to you by Thomas Allgaier and Frennus.

00:00:02: This edition highlights key LinkedIn posts on commercial fleets in weeks forty and forty one.

00:00:07: Frennus supports automotive enterprises and consultancies with market, customer and competitive intelligence in the commercial fleet sector with a strong focus on digital solutions and emerging technologies.

00:00:18: Yeah, and looking through the posts we pulled, it's really striking the conversation in the commercial fleet world.

00:00:24: It's some It's shifted.

00:00:25: We're definitely past just talking about pilots.

00:00:28: Absolutely.

00:00:28: These

00:00:29: sources, they're all about what's happening now.

00:00:32: Real world operations, strategic moves being made today, the kind of gritty details fleet managers and OEMs are dealing with.

00:00:40: Right.

00:00:40: And what really jumped out at me is how incredibly operational it's all become.

00:00:44: It's not if fleets transition anymore, is it?

00:00:47: It's all about the how.

00:00:48: and frankly, how fast.

00:00:50: So our goal today is to cluster the big trends we saw bubbling up on LinkedIn these past couple of weeks, weeks forty and forty one.

00:00:57: We'll cover the scale of electrification globally, charging strategies, which is always huge, some cutting edge data uses, and how policy is actually shaping things.

00:01:07: Okay, sounds good.

00:01:08: Let's start with that first point then, the sheer speed and scale of electrification.

00:01:12: Because the momentum, it's Well, it's pretty staggering.

00:01:15: It's definitely moving quickly from those early tests to really scaled deployments across the globe, especially trucks and public transport.

00:01:22: I agree on the speed, but that scale, it obviously brings its own challenges.

00:01:26: And the sources, they make it very clear who's setting the pace globally right now.

00:01:31: And that's China.

00:01:32: Oh, yeah.

00:01:32: Casper Norton pointed this out, they're just running away with the zero emission truck market, nearly ninety thousand sold.

00:01:39: Just in the first half of twenty twenty

00:01:40: five ninety thousand that number just makes you stop and really take notice.

00:01:45: Adam Browning even shared an OEM internal forecast predicting get this thirty five percent of heavy-duty truck sales in China this year will be electric

00:01:53: thirty five percent.

00:01:54: thirty

00:01:55: five percent I mean that tells you they must have cracked some major nuts around manufacturing scale sourcing components getting the infrastructure rolled out things other regions are still you know wrestling with.

00:02:09: It's a stunning scale globally definitely but we are also seeing real tangible successes closer to home which kind of proves the tech is ready now.

00:02:19: take public transit for example.

00:02:21: Ian Downey mentioned new zero-tail pipe emission buses going into service in Essex and that's not a small trial it's fifty-five vehicles back by first bus in the county council.

00:02:31: And the benefits aren't just environmental are they?

00:02:33: they're very practical very human.

00:02:35: Duncan McIntyre talked about Glades County's electric school buses.

00:02:39: Apparently, they're improving driver comfort, much quieter ride for the kids, too, and saving the district money.

00:02:45: That's the trifecta, isn't it?

00:02:46: The win-win-win that fleet managers are always looking for.

00:02:48: Exactly.

00:02:49: We also saw some really impressive examples of readiness in more specialized fleets.

00:02:53: Rachel Flynn Kisuba's team over at Revolve.

00:02:56: They deployed thirty-six electric trucks across six different customer sites in just four months.

00:03:01: Four months, wow.

00:03:03: Yeah, they're executing these rollouts quickly showing it's operationally feasible.

00:03:07: Right now, today.

00:03:08: And

00:03:08: speaking of specialized, there was an interesting one from the UAE.

00:03:12: Leonardo DiMiro reported they've launched their first commercial fleet of self-driving electric trucks.

00:03:19: It's a collaboration with Evo Cargo and RAK Ceramics.

00:03:23: Autonomy and electrification together.

00:03:25: Right, that combination.

00:03:27: That's where things get really interesting for the future.

00:03:30: And it's not just established markets either.

00:03:32: Yaxal Canales Lopez highlighted Mexico's first electric bus designed domestically called Taruk.

00:03:38: It's already undergoing trials down in Jedomal.

00:03:41: That speed is just incredible, but of course almost every post that talks about putting vehicles on the road pivots straight to the the elephant in the room.

00:03:49: charging.

00:03:50: You knew it was coming.

00:03:51: If you figured out how to get the vehicles, the next big hurdle is absolutely the charging infrastructure.

00:03:57: It needs dedicated thinking, strategic alignment.

00:04:00: You can't just treat these massive trucks like bigger versions of cars.

00:04:03: No, exactly.

00:04:04: That's what Syed Hasif Hassan was really hammering home.

00:04:06: Electric trucks, they need their own specific charging solutions.

00:04:09: Think about their size, the uptime they need, those really tight schedules.

00:04:13: Right.

00:04:13: And Torben Bendors backed this up, pointing out how critical depot charging is.

00:04:18: especially when over half of European trucks travel less than three hundred kilometers per trip.

00:04:23: Yeah, something like that.

00:04:25: So optimizing that depot charging setup becomes absolutely crucial for managing the total cost of ownership, the TCO.

00:04:32: You know, factoring in everything, not just the sticker price.

00:04:36: Energy maintenance, the whole picture.

00:04:38: But it's not just about having enough chargers, it's reliability.

00:04:42: That's paramount.

00:04:43: And the sources, well, they reveal a Pretty significant issue here.

00:04:47: Tyler Philippi mentioned a recent report.

00:04:50: Apparently nearly one-third of public charging attempts fail.

00:04:53: Wait, hang on.

00:04:53: One-third.

00:04:54: Is that a technology problem or is it more operational?

00:04:57: Like, software bugs, broken chargers not getting fixed.

00:05:01: The report suggests it's a major gap in execution.

00:05:04: It's undermining confidence.

00:05:06: I mean, fleets absolutely need to know, they need to trust that the charger will work.

00:05:11: First time, every time.

00:05:12: Yeah, of course.

00:05:13: That gap between the claimed uptime and what drivers actually experience, that's a huge operational issue that needs sorting before we can really talk about massive scale.

00:05:24: Okay, so that's the cost and reliability side of charging.

00:05:27: But then there's this other angle emerging actually generating revenue.

00:05:31: Vehicles grid, V to G. Ah,

00:05:33: yes, V to G.

00:05:34: Jamie Sands framed it really well, I thought.

00:05:36: Thinking of these trucks not just as assets, but as batteries on wheels.

00:05:41: Big batteries that can earn money and help stabilize the grid when they're parked.

00:05:44: And that's not just theory anymore, is it?

00:05:46: Bill Peirce shared that Zoom actually won the twenty twenty-five Electric Innovation Award at their pioneering VTG with school buses.

00:05:53: Right.

00:05:53: So it proves the commercial viability.

00:05:55: Using fleets as grid assets fundamentally changes the financial equation for an operator.

00:06:00: Definitely.

00:06:01: And making the whole transition smoother for company car fleets, especially drivers charging away from the depot, Hami's Ahmed mentioned ChargePoint rolling out a specific home charging solution for European fleets.

00:06:14: Home charging focus.

00:06:15: Yeah, getting reliable home charging sorted is maybe one of those quiet under the radar things that really helps hit sustainability targets and makes drivers lives easier, more productive.

00:06:24: And this V-to-G potential managing energy flows, it fundamentally changes the whole finance.

00:06:30: and risk picture.

00:06:31: But to actually make money from it, you need flawless data, which brings us nicely to the next big theme.

00:06:39: Telematics, data, and getting operations accurate.

00:06:42: Yeah, data is really evolving, isn't it?

00:06:44: It's gone way beyond just knowing where a truck is on a map.

00:06:47: Now it's becoming this sophisticated tool to prevent really costly mistakes and get super granular on risk.

00:06:54: It's about understanding the why behind a problem, not just the where.

00:06:58: And this is apparently where a lot of frets stumble, according to Mark Canton.

00:07:01: He made a strong point that many track the wrong things.

00:07:04: They might know a truck is in shop, which is location data, right?

00:07:07: But they don't track the performance data, like why it's in the shop.

00:07:10: Is it waiting on parts, waiting on a mechanic?

00:07:13: If you don't track those actual bottlenecks, the things causing the downtime, you can't fix the root cause.

00:07:19: that's killing your vehicle availability.

00:07:21: That

00:07:21: makes sense.

00:07:22: So how granular is this TCO data getting then?

00:07:25: Are we finally moving past?

00:07:27: just estimations.

00:07:28: It

00:07:28: seems like it.

00:07:29: Roby Moyano from Badea showed how they're integrating charging session data directly with the vehicle's telematics.

00:07:36: Okay.

00:07:37: So operators can now correlate the exact energy delivered, the mileage driven and calculate the actual cost per kilometer of charging.

00:07:45: Not an estimate, the real number.

00:07:47: That level of financial accuracy.

00:07:49: It's potentially transformative for budgeting for setting rates.

00:07:52: Wow.

00:07:52: And I guess that precision helps model risk much better too.

00:07:55: Exactly.

00:07:56: Rachel McNeill shared a cautionary tale actually.

00:07:58: An operator invested, I think it was half a million pounds in electric vans, only to find out after buying them that they weren't actually suitable for their specific routes, all because they hadn't done the proper data homework beforehand.

00:08:10: That's a, well, the pre-expensive mistake rooted in data omission.

00:08:13: Ouch.

00:08:14: Half a million pounds.

00:08:15: Yeah.

00:08:16: Yeah, that highlights the risk.

00:08:17: And on the really technical side, data precision itself is becoming critical.

00:08:21: Bruno P. was tackling GPS uncertainty.

00:08:24: He developed a Python experiment to calculate geofence probabilities more accurately, accounting for, believe it or not, the Earth's curvature.

00:08:32: Okay, Earth's curvature.

00:08:34: Why should, you know, a fleet manager care about that level of detail?

00:08:38: Well,

00:08:38: it comes down to compliance, mostly.

00:08:40: If you're geofence, that digital boundary you set up is off by even a few meters because you used a flat map model that affects your compliance alerts, maybe delivery confirmations, critical safety zone warnings, for a large fleet, that tiny technical inaccuracy could translate directly into real financial risk or compliance failures.

00:08:57: Got it.

00:08:58: Precision matters.

00:09:00: And finally, on the data front, we're seeing AI integrated more for management tasks.

00:09:05: Victor Gonzalez shared how Flevo's AI solution helped SparkTrans cut down the time they spent on manual fuel checks.

00:09:11: Went from hours every week down to just five minutes.

00:09:15: That's the kind of operational efficiency AI promises, isn't it?

00:09:18: tackling those tedious manual tasks.

00:09:20: Exactly.

00:09:21: That's the low-hanging fruit.

00:09:22: So all this internal data work helps control costs, definitely.

00:09:27: But the bigger picture, the long-term investment climate, that often comes down to external factors like policy.

00:09:32: So let's look at that next.

00:09:34: Policy, cost discipline, and ecosystem support.

00:09:37: Because stable policy seems to be giving fleets the confidence they need for these big multi-year investments.

00:09:43: Oh, that's a huge theme right now.

00:09:44: Europe just sent a massive signal for stability.

00:09:47: Michael W. Ninch highlighted the European Parliament extending toll exemptions for clean vehicles.

00:09:52: Until when?

00:09:52: All the way out to twenty thirty-one.

00:09:54: That single move really stabilizes the business case for zero-emission logistics and also for things like e-trailers, those powered semi-trailers, basically for the rest of this decade.

00:10:03: That provides some serious long-term certainty.

00:10:05: Meanwhile, in the

00:10:06: U.S.,

00:10:07: States are using incentives pretty strategically to push adoption.

00:10:11: Maggie Kobalus noted New Jersey is offering hefty vouchers like fifty thousand dollars plus for commercial fleets buying class three or higher EVs.

00:10:21: So medium duty and

00:10:22: up.

00:10:22: Yeah, trying to drive that decarbonization by helping bridge the upfront cost gap.

00:10:27: which is still a factor.

00:10:28: And strategically, from the fleet operator's perspective, Josh Robinson had some interesting advice.

00:10:33: He suggested HGV fleets need to shift their focus a bit.

00:10:37: Don't just fixate on the headline rental price.

00:10:39: Okay.

00:10:39: Focus instead on the total cost of distribution, things like prioritizing control over your assets, flexibility, optimizing payloads, that delivers better overall economic results than just chasing the absolute lowest monthly payment on paper.

00:10:52: Right.

00:10:52: Thinking holistically about the operation, not just one line item.

00:10:55: And we're seeing the support you ecosystem evolved to help with this too.

00:10:58: Ollie Woodall covered the merger between journey leasing and drive electric.

00:11:02: Ah,

00:11:03: yes.

00:11:03: Combining forces.

00:11:04: That's exactly.

00:11:05: Pooling their expertise and scale to offer, hopefully, more affordable and accessible EV leasing options for businesses.

00:11:14: Trying to make that switch quickly.

00:11:16: Okay, that leads us into our final theme, which ties a lot of this together, the human element and looking at alternative futures.

00:11:24: Because this whole massive transformation, it doesn't just happen because of technology, it really depends on people and also exploring every possible complementary technology.

00:11:34: Ray Miller put it really well, I thought.

00:11:36: He basically said, fleet success hinges on people, the drivers, your partners, how you manage the change internally.

00:11:43: It's not just about the trucks themselves.

00:11:46: And Mike Necran echoed that.

00:11:47: He noted that it's the people and the purpose behind the transition that ultimately determines success, maybe even more than the hardware.

00:11:53: Technology is just the tool, right?

00:11:55: It's people who run the business and navigate the change.

00:11:57: Absolutely.

00:11:57: And thinking about those people, especially drivers, and minimizing their downtime, we have to look beyond just plugging in.

00:12:03: Battery swapping came up.

00:12:05: Ajay Karthikeyan, Vasudevan highlighted it's gaining real momentum globally, places like.

00:12:09: Tokyo, Madrid.

00:12:11: Swapping.

00:12:11: Interesting.

00:12:12: Yeah, as a potential answer to long charging weights and easing pressure on the grid, he framed it as a possible catalyst for commercial EV adoption, working alongside traditional charging, not necessarily replacing it entirely.

00:12:26: So another tool in the toolbox.

00:12:28: And we're seeing new service models pop up to try and make the whole transition feel seamless.

00:12:33: Mauricio Sardi is developing this All-inclusive bus and truck as a service idea.

00:12:38: All-inclusive, what does that cover?

00:12:40: Pretty much everything it sounds like.

00:12:41: The vehicle, the charging setup, maintenance insurance, even managing the grid interaction.

00:12:46: The goal is to deliver, I think he said, at least ten percent savings for operators compared to doing it all themselves.

00:12:53: It's about providing a total solution, not just selling a truck.

00:12:56: Delivering outcomes, not just assets.

00:12:59: And tied into that service idea, Leon Hansen offered a really practical tactical insight, something easily overlooked.

00:13:05: Oh, yeah.

00:13:05: Fleet uptime can apparently be significantly affected by where the truck comes from, whether it's straight from the dealer or if it's gone through an upfit or first.

00:13:14: You know, the specialists who add the custom bodies, refrigeration, that kind of thing.

00:13:18: Ah,

00:13:18: right.

00:13:18: The final stage manufacturer.

00:13:20: Exactly.

00:13:21: That real world installation experience and, crucially, the post-delivery support from those experienced partners.

00:13:28: It can be absolutely critical for keeping those complex vehicles running smoothly.

00:13:33: It's not just about the base

00:13:34: chassis.

00:13:34: That makes a lot of sense.

00:13:35: Lots of moving parts, literally.

00:13:38: Okay, well that brings us towards the end of this deep dive.

00:13:42: If you enjoyed this deep dive, new additions drop every two weeks.

00:13:46: Also check out our other deep drives on electrification and battery technology, future mobility and market evolution, and next-gen vehicle intelligence.

00:13:54: And before we sign off, here's maybe one last thought for you, the listener.

00:13:58: We heard so much today about the critical need for granular performance data, Mark Kenton's point.

00:14:04: and that intense focus on predictable cost control that Josh Robinson mentioned.

00:14:08: So how quickly do you think fully integrated data platforms may be combined with those AI-driven insurance models that Matteo Carbone talked about for transforming risk assessment?

00:14:19: How quickly do those become the absolute baseline requirement just to get capital investment for any new fleet assets?

00:14:27: That's a great question.

00:14:28: Moving data from being just useful to being essential for even getting financed.

00:14:33: That could really accelerate things.

00:14:35: Definitely something to watch in the coming months.

00:14:36: Thanks everyone for joining us on this deep dive into the latest commercial fleet insights.

00:14:41: We hope this helps you shape your strategy moving forward.

00:14:43: Be sure to subscribe so you don't miss our next edition.