victorian electric vehicle trial mid-term report - Department of Transport

Within the traditional fleet assetmanagement model, the operationalcost savings within this period mustexceed the initial purchase pricepenalty and residual value riskassociated with electric vehicle uptake.This is summed up by the responseof one fleet manager to an electricvehicle supply proposal:They’ve said they can do an EV for thesame total package cost over threeyears as one of my current vehicles –but if I’m not going to save anything,why would I bother?Victorian fleet manager, 2012A range of opportunities exist toaddress these issues, some of whichare being addressed through theVictorian Electric Vehicle Trial:• Fleet purchasing coalition –combining the EV procurementactivities of a number oforganisations is beneficial forsuppliers and customers alike(refer Local Government fleetsbreakout in Section 4.3.1). Tothis end the trial has partneredwith The Climate Group andSouth Australian Governmentto investigate a fleet purchasingcoalition for Australia, the resultsfrom which will be released inearly 2013• Market competition – by creatingconsumer interest and removingbarriers to market access, thetrial is seeking to attract morevehicles into the market and indoing so create competition thatwill have a downwards influenceon vehicle prices• Marketing contribution –as described above, some fleetsare seeking to address the initialpurchase price/residual valuerisk issue through a contributionfrom their marketing budget,however this approach is not likelyto extend much beyond the firstvehicle purchase by any fleet• Guaranteed buy-backs – the trialEV residual value risk for VictorianGovernment was addressed withguaranteed buy-back priceslocked in at the time of purchasewith both Nissan and Mitsubishi;these experiences can be expectedto inform the business planningof both organisations as theyapproach EV fleet salesmore broadly.An additional cost issue identifiedas part of the fleet roll-out is theresource commitment associatedwith successful deployment of EVs.Compared to conventional vehicles,there are significantly higher overheadsassociated with the business casedesign, procurement process, chargingstrategy design and implementation,vehicle management, projectcommunications and marketing,and staff training. In addition,organisations must acquire theknowledge and skills to complete thesetasks in order to realise the benefitsfrom their EV investment.TimeDescription9:00 – 9:10 Introduction9:10 – 9:30 EV technology 1019:30 – 10:00 Procurement options panel discussion10:00 – 10:30 Practical roll-out plan10:30 – 10:50 Morning tea / networking / charging outletdemonstrations10:50 – 11:30 Staff engagement and training panel discussionBenchmarking of the trial fleetparticipant experiences informedthe design of two half-day trainingworkshops delivered in early 2012 toaddress the information barriers tosuccessful EV roll-out by corporatefleet operators. The topic breakdownfrom these workshops is provided inTable 8, with additional information inAppendix A – Victorian EV Trial corporateparticipants.11:30 – 12:00 Future business planning12:00 – 12:30 Realising the value of your investment12:30 – 1:15 Lunch / networking / EV test-drivesTable 8. EVs and Fleets 2012 training workshop agenda.CREATING A MARKET 49