EV FLEET MANAGEMENT & SMART CHARGING

One huge benefit of electric vehicles is that they give you the control to choose where you'd like to charge - EV charger locations aren't limited in the way that petrol stations are, landowners and developers have a lot more flexibility on location as well as cost. 

As a fleet operator, this level of freedom means you can research the most fitting locations for your fleet, whether that's at a depot, the office, at-home charging or a major hub along well-travelled fleet routes.

Depot or workplace EV charging

Operating EV chargers at your workplace gives you convenience and full control over scalability - this can also be enhanced by a back-end charge point management system like Virta Hub. 

It’s also a popular way to reinforce employer branding and strengthen the employee experience.

In a survey we ran with Kantar, over 80% per cent of EV drivers globally said they expect to be able to charge at work. 

This could take the form of a corporate EV car fleet, LGV, or HGV - depending on your business needs. 

It also means you can oversee charging schedules, ensuring vehicles are ready for deployment without reliance on the drivers themselves. You could even make chargers accessible to the public and earn another revenue stream when your own employees aren’t using them (we explore that below). 

When it comes to depot setups, these are more practical for larger vehicles like LCVs, HGVs or simply when your fleet drivers don't have the at-home space. 

And you might find additional benefits, as depot charging can exploit  bulk electricity rates, off-peak charging, renewable energy integration, and more.

Home EV charging

According to our survey with Kantar, 88% of people would like to charge their electric car at home. It's easy to see why, home charging offers your drivers the ultimate convenience by allowing them to leave from home with a ‘full tank’, especially useful if they aren't within a distance of work charging or public charge points. 

As with depot and workplace charging, Virta offers a simple way to manage your fleet drivers charging from home. Your drivers only have to enter the price they pay per kilowatt hour (kWh) into our backend system, and Virta takes care of the rest.

Your employees automatically receive a reimbursement for the electricity they charge at home every month, and they can keep track of everything via the Virta mobile app.

Public EV charging

When it comes to your own EV charging stations, you can also choose to make them available to the public. 

Opening your EV chargers to the public ensures that your chargers are utilised even when your fleet vehicles are not charging and offers new revenue streams to your business. All you have to do is set your charging prices, and we can manage the rest. 

As part of our charging network, your charging stations will be accessible to all drivers using the Virta app, including over half a million EV drivers. 

The revenue you generate from these charging stations is then paid monthly straight into your business account.

Get access to 520,000+ charging stations throughout Europe and beyond

Charging infrastructure around the world continues to expand and improve. If you join an existing network like the Virta Charging Network, you can charge all your fleet and electric company cars at over +120,000 public Virta charging points. 

Thanks to roaming, in cooperation with Hubject and Gireve, two major roaming hubs we partner with, you get access to thousands of charging stations throughout Europe. Your drivers won't have to worry about range anxiety.

EV hubs

Another charging option is at EV charging hubs - these are public stations solely dedicated to electric car charging. 

Hubs can be built either as standalone stations or directly on an existing premise, like your own corporate site. They would be especially valuable for areas with block apartments that don't have enough EV charging stations or any EV chargers at all.

When it comes to managing an electric fleet, the most important thing is ensuring your drivers always have access to a charger when they need a charger. You need your trucks, vans, and cars to be operational at all times. 

While charging at your depot or workplace means you have full control over charger accessibility, this isn’t the case with public chargers. 

Long-distance drivers need to be sure that when they’re on route, they’ll still be able to charge - this is especially important when planning routes as a fleet manager. 

Virta’s reservation tool tackles this issue by allowing you to reserve public charge points in advance - so that drivers can arrive at their destination, charge at their allocated time, and be on their way without any hassle involved. 

For your fleet, this means: 

• Keeping operations efficient: Pre-planning your charger usage means less downtime and frustration.
• Simplicity and flex: Reservations can be made with only a few clicks in the Virta Hub platform, and you can adjust them when needed. 
• Smarter planning: The tool can be fully integrated with existing management systems, and you’ll receive automated invoicing and real-time data on charger usage. 

Read more about how this impacts heavy-duty fleets here. 

There's one thing that ties all of the above features together, from smart energy usage to automated billing, and that's an intelligent backend software for your fleet management.

So, when it comes to EV fleet management companies, we're here to help! Virta is the leading EV charging platform in Europe, and we can provide you with an end-to-end fleet charging solution.

The Virta Fleet solution for EV charging takes care of your fleet's billing and management and always keeps it moving. The solution runs on our backend system, the Virta Hub, and can be controlled via the cloud – anytime and from anywhere. All data can also be easily transferred into your existing fleet data tools.

As an end-to-end service provider, Virta takes care of every step of the process until your EV charging operations are up and running - and beyond.

During operation, we take care of maintenance and firmware updates for all your charging stations and support for your EV drivers.

Get real-time insights into driving, charging status, charging behaviour, and energy consumption, and have complete control of your fleet. 

So, what does effective fleet management look like in real life? 

One great example is Worldline, a global innovator in payment services that operates in 40 countries and has almost 20,000 employees. The organisation was hopeful about reducing its carbon footprint through fleet electrification, as well as providing charging to its employees at its sites in France. 

A huge organisation like that needs a solution that is reliable and cost-effective.

To ensure they received maximum ROI and performance, they partnered with Virta. 

After installing more than 44 charging points at Worldline's six sites in France, company, personal, and service vehicles are now able to utilise the organisation's charging offering. 

And they have been utlising it! More than 750 charging sessions are carried out each quarter, with the usage rate increasing by 24% over six months.

Equally, the results showed that employees visited the organisation's sites more on Mondays and Fridays.

The transition to EVs for fleets is already happening, and it is advantageous in terms of efficiency, cost, and performance fronts. No matter what option you choose, now is the time to start leading the electrification change (if you haven’t already!). 

The future of fleet is electric. 

We at Virta know that different fleets have different needs. However, what they all have in common is the need for a holistic charging solution. The Virta Fleet solution covers all areas of EV charging. It ensures that charging always complies with national and international legislation, norms, standards, and VAT law.

At Virta, we always have one focus: you - the fleet manager. The Virta Fleet solution takes care of all the nitty gritty in the background so that e-mobility is not an obstacle but an opportunity for you and your business.