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The Association of Fleet Professionals (AFP) has announced the upcoming launch of an online platform designed to facilitate the sharing of electric vehicle (EV) charging facilities between businesses.
This initiative is the culmination of efforts by the AFP’s shared charging committee, which was established at the beginning of the year and includes members from notable organisations such as The AA, Alliance Healthcare, Auditel, IFC Group, National Grid, and Royal Mail.
In a study conducted by the AFP last October, it was revealed that a significant proportion of van fleets, amounting to 58%, would entertain the idea of sharing their charging infrastructure, whether located at their depots or accessible to the public.
This openness is seen as a step towards making the transition to electrification more feasible for businesses.
AFP chair Paul Hollick said: “The committee has made rapid progress since the start of this year, which is an indication of the enthusiasm that exists for this idea. We’re now in a position where there is a two-pronged strategy being adopted.
“To kick things off, we’re looking to provide an online matchmaking service that will link fleets that have spare charging capacity at their premises with others who need charging in those areas. Once we’ve created an introduction, those businesses will make their own commercial arrangements, although we are here to offer advice if needed.
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“The next step will be to commission an online platform that will enable a more structured approach. Fleets that have charging facilities to spare will register and then those that need charging will be able to search and book. It should also set prices and payment terms.
“If we can make the platform work, it should be quite a substantial boost for fleet EV charging.”
Hollick added that there was general acceptance within the EV committee that charging needed to be priced at a maximum of 40p per kilowatt-hour to make shared charging viable.
He said: “We need the price to be low enough that it is attractive to fleet users and high enough that it provides a worthwhile margin for charging providers. Pricing is the crux to wider adoption of this idea and we believe that this is the sweet spot.”
He added that the discussions undertaken by the committee had been about not just identifying charging providers and customers, and linking them but also how to gain access to charging sites, health and safety considerations, measuring charging use, and potential payment mechanisms.
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