Put charging first when electrifying last mile deliveries

Urban delivery operations are ideal for electric vehicles, meaning many companies are starting to adopt EVs. But an electricity supply unable to support that level of EV charging can put a dent in plans. Natasha Fry, head of strategic accounts at Mer, explains why we should start thinking about EV

Charging First When It Comes To Last Mile Electrification

more of a balanced view. This will factor in items that consume larger amounts of power at certain times of the year like air conditioning units.

This is important as you might be on a shared connection, meaning other businesses rely on that connection for their power, too. Your DNO can charge you if you exceed your capacity. It is vital to calculate the number and type of EV chargers you could install without getting into trouble with the DNO or risking a power outage at your facility.

cost-effective solution – provided it leaves sufficient time to fully recharge your vehicles.

Revising the plan

Once you have the information from operational requirements, site power surveys and energy usage data, you might find that you need to revise your goals for EV deployment. This might involve extending the time scales to accommodate DNO upgrades, increasing budgets, or lowering EV targets.

Retailers and last mile logistics operators are leading the switch to electric vehicles (EVs). But increasingly, they are finding they must become energy experts to meet corporate targets. Rolling out charging infrastructure for electric vans can be challenging – get it wrong and you risk expensive delays or failures.

Data-led approach

At Mer, we often see companies with objectives such as “30 per cent of the fleet must be electric by 2025”. Without an understanding of the investment required to get there, delivery operations risk missing these targets.

The typical starting point is to reduce emissions from the fleet, often coupled with a longer-term goal to fully electrify by a set date. This usually involves conversations with the logistics director or fleet manager to look at which vehicles can be electrified without impacting day-to-day operations. From there, comes a breakdown of what is feasible on a depot-by-depot basis. You probably use telematics data to identify which vehicles can be electrified. However, are you using the same data-led approach to how many EVs each depot can charge?

Power availability

It goes without saying that electric vans use more energy than cars, and electric HGVs use more than LCVs. Adding EVs to a depot’s fleet will increase power usage, and any given site has a finite amount of electricity available. It is vital to understand how much power you’re already using and how much headroom remains from your grid connection. You can find out how much power is available from your distribution network operator (DNO). You can calculate how much power you use; often referred to as your “maximum demand” by looking at energy bills or using data from an energy management system. Data collected over an extended period such as 12 months gives

If the power available is lower than the number of chargers required to meet your EV targets, you need to factor in a connection upgrade. This is expensive and timeconsuming. DNOs operate a queue system for upgrades and these works take time, so be prepared to add months to the project.

In terms of fact-finding, you can break it down into: power availability on each site? Is there enough power for the chargers you need?

If not, what are the costs of upgrading that power supply to meet EV targets? What are the timescales involved in delivering DNO upgrades?

You should also think about using load balancing. This means that, when energy demands from EVs plugged into the network are higher than the available amount of power, the smart chargers will equally divide power between the EVs. Essentially the vehicles all still charge, but at a slower rate, and you don’t compromise power to other operations or end up with a surcharge from your DNO. Load balancing can be a

Going back to your business with bad news might not seem like a good move. However, it is far better than moving forward with a flawed plan that could impact your fleet’s efficiency and end up costing the company money. Plan for the growth of your electric fleet over the next five to ten years. You might only need to charge ten EVs this year but bringing in a sub-main cable now with capacity to charge 50 EVs will avoid you paying twice for groundworks and cable extensions.

An expert partner

At Mer, we provide an end-to-end service, making the electrification journey as straightforward and cost-effective as possible. You can download our latest e-guide at http:/uk.mer.eco/lastmile L