Geotab and Enterprise Fleet Management study quantifies cost and CO₂-saving opportunities for fleet electrification

Findings include potential cost savings of $33 million for customers if 13% of analyzed vehicles were electrified today

Underpinning their commitments to sustainability and vehicle electrification, Geotab, a global leader in IoT and connected transportation, and Enterprise Fleet Management, a leading fleet management provider with more than 649,000 vehicles across North America, today announced results from one of Geotab’s largest fleet Electric Vehicle Suitability Assessments. 

With the transition to electric vehicles (EVs) underway across North America and fleets faced with the challenges of meeting new sustainability standards, Enterprise Fleet Management and Geotab analyzed vehicle data from portions of Enterprise’s fleet vehicles to identify the current electrification opportunity and better understand how the shift to EVs will affect fleets. Utilizing Geotab’s Electric Vehicle Suitability Assessment (EVSA), the massive study included more than 91,000 of Enterprise Fleet Management’s leased vehicles. In addition to helping Enterprise Fleet Management better understand how the shift to EVs will affect its business today and beyond, the study also enables the leading fleet provider to better consult with its customers by using tangible, data-driven insights for their respective business clients. 

According to the study:

• Of the 91,252 vehicles analyzed, 13% (approximately 12,000) were good candidates to be economically replaced by range-capable EVs today. Near-term electrification of these estimated 12,000 vehicles could achieve a total potential savings of $33 million and 194,000 tons of tailpipe CO₂ emissions over four years.
• Up to 45% (approximately 42,000) of the analyzed vehicles could be electrified as EV pickups enter the market. Shifting to EV pickups would equal 1.3 million tons of tailpipe emission reductions across the entire fleet, over a four-year service life.
• Electrifying almost half of Enterprise Fleet Management’s vehicles would result in a potential cost savings of $167 million or $4,056.20 per vehicle.

“With the transition to EVs underway across North America and fleets faced with the challenges of meeting new sustainability standards, Enterprise Fleet Management recognizes the importance of successfully delivering EV solutions to customers,” said Dain Giesie, Assistant Vice President at Enterprise Fleet Management. “We have already helped several organizations integrate these vehicles into their fleet.”

Enterprise Fleet Management’s work in the EV space and the results achieved from the study are playing a valuable role in the journey to long-term EV viability. In fact, these efforts are part of a broader strategy led by their affiliate and leading mobility provider Enterprise Holdings to build consumer awareness and understanding of EVs as the company transitions its fleet over the coming years. 

“Our goal with this study was to map out what we need to know and to help us understand what we need to provide our customers now and in the near future so we can continue to be the best fleet management provider possible,” continued Giesie. “It did that, highlighting our customers’ opportunities and needs so we can keep our strategic planning process on track and continue to be a fleet management leader for those we serve.”

Helping customers make confident decisions about fleet electrification, Geotab’s EVSA tool offers data-driven adoption recommendations by analyzing a fleet’s unique driving profiles and patterns. By leveraging aggregated data from Geotab to show how vehicles were being used by Enterprise Fleet Management clients, the companies were able to produce a suitability assessment on a scale never attempted before.

“By combining Geotab’s analytics with Enterprise Fleet Management’s real-world data on a large scale, we’ve been able to provide a unique perspective on how the company can expect its fleet to evolve in the coming years,” said Charlotte Argue, Senior Manager, Fleet Electrification for Geotab. “In addition, an assessment of this kind highlights the value of fleet-specific data, since it enables us to minimize assumptions and thus increase the accuracy of our analysis. More importantly, equipped with tangible data, Enterprise Fleet Management can make confident, strategic decisions when it comes to fleet electrification.”

According to Giesie, “The scope of the study went beyond EV vehicle availability today and tomorrow. We contributed real-world experience that informed data inputs for depreciation, fuel costs, vehicle costs, after-market costs and more to give us a deeper perspective into our customers’ potential future needs and how we can best support those needs.”

The Geotab EVSA uses telematics data to understand a fleet’s specific needs and makes EV adoption recommendations, paired with a projection of financial savings and environmental benefits of transitioning to EVs. Backed by the largest dataset of real-world EV performance metrics, it can be used regularly to understand a fleet’s electrification potential as new models enter the market, and as fleet needs and macroeconomic factors change. The EVSA forms part of Geotab’s broader suite of solutions designed to help organizations achieve zero-emissions or their sustainability goals.

For more information on Geotab and Enterprise Fleet Management’s EVSA study, visit geotab.com.

A Road Map for Plastics

Increasing the ability to recycle automotive plastics has led to funding of a new report between ARC and ECCC.    

As part of its focus on the circular economy, Environment & Climate Change Canada (ECCC) is looking at various ways in which to promote sustainability through recycling. A big push has been on plastics and a few years ago ECCC hired Dillion Consulting to conduct a master study on plastic waste. The report looked at different aspects, including where the waste is being generated, where it goes; which sectors of the economy contribute to it and the significance of those contributions. The report concluded that around 9% of plastic waste can be attributed to the transportation sector.

More information needed

At present, there is very little data on this within our industry, yet because it is a sector that ECCC closely interacts with on a regular basis, two major funding proposals were put forward. One focused on pre-shredding activity, the other, post-shredding. From this, discussions with our association led to the development of a proposal to prepare a final document entitled  The Automotive Recyclers of Canada Roadmap to Increase Recycling of Auto Plastics from End of Life Vehicles in Canada.

This project will be undertaken with the financial support of the Government of Canada through the federal Department of Environment and Climate Change and their Zero Plastic Waste Initiative.

The ARC ELV Roadmap research agreement covers several key areas:

• Survey and Profile of Amount of Pre-Shredder Auto Plastic Potentially Available for Recycling. The ARC Roadmap project will start with a survey of over 500 companies identified as active in the ELV sector nationally. The purpose of the survey will be to compile information on current practices in auto plastics management and recycling, and to identify opportunities to divert more auto plastics directly at these sites.
• Tear Down Research of ELVs to Identify Auto Plastics, Logistics and Recycling Options. A tear down research project would be carried out at two ARC member facilities on a representative sample of typical ELVs that are commonly scrapped. This tear down of selected vehicles would identify the plastic components that could be removed prior to the shredding process.
• Assess Potential Approaches to Increased Auto Plastics Recycling. The third component of the Roadmap would explore current best practices in auto plastics recycling globally and also identify the practical elements of increasing recycling of auto plastics in Canada.
• Develop a Roadmap to increase pre-shredder auto plastics recycling in Canada. The finding from tasks 1, 2, and 3 will be used to develop the ARC Roadmap to guide activities in auto plastic recycling for the next five years (2022 to 2027), in order to help reach higher automotive plastic diversion targets.

To help facilitate this project, ARC is working with a number of consultants who have done work in the areas of ELVs, plastics recovery and circularity. The project is scheduled to be completed by March 31, 2022.

Studies planned

The key points listed above essentially relate to what our industry is already doing regarding plastic component removal and disposal from end of life vehicles. Two of the biggest plastic related items that recyclers currently remove are bumper covers and fuel tanks. As part of the research, we will be conducting motion studies with our members, many of which already have a solid understanding on what they spend in terms of time and steps to disassemble and de-pollute a vehicle for their regular business activities.

From that we will be able to determine what plastics we can recover, identify and measure. There will also be engagement with the OEMs to determine where and what type of plastics are in their vehicles, along with what is required in terms of purchasing recycling plastics and whether it makes more sense to do this either pre or post-shredding of these parts, both of which have benefits and drawbacks. Most of the current findings around the world are leaning toward the post-shredding model, which is more efficient, less labour, but more capital-intensive than pre-shredding.   

Ultimately, the goal is to determine how much of these plastics that are removed from ELVs, can be recycled and put back into the circular economy. The research report aims to demonstrate whether the goals set by the ECCC are practical and achievable—where gaps in the process can be identified and filled, and where auto recyclers can generate sustainable profits from this process to enable them to continue investing in it for the future.

Source: A Road Map for Plastics – Automotive Recyclers Association of Atlantic Canada (araac.ca)

First Phase of Island-Wide Public Transit System Launches October 12 with $2 One-Way Trips to help meet Net Zero targets by 2040

The Province of Prince Edward Island launched the first phase of an Island-wide Public Transit System with two new public transit routes to eastern PEI on October 12. The two new eastern routes, along with the existing route operated by County-Line Express connecting Summerside to Charlottetown, will be $2 per trip.

An integrated, provincial transit system was a commitment in the 2019 Speech from the Throne and a key recommendation of the province’s Poverty Reduction Action Plan, Sustainable Transportation Action Plan and the Premier’s Council for Recovery and Growth. 

“The continued strength of our province relies on creating new opportunities for our communities. Local and intercommunity transportation services will link workers to jobs, students to schools, shoppers to stores and Islanders to the essential services they need to enhance their quality of life.”

– Premier Dennis King

One route will connect Charlottetown with St. Peters and Souris, while the second will connect Charlottetown with the Montague and Georgetown areas. These routes will run three round trips per day, Monday to Friday. 

The eastern PEI routes will be operated by T3 Transit(link is external) and will connect riders to the existing transit system available in the capital area or any other stops along the dedicated routes. By January 2022, on-demand service will also be available through the mobile app, Kari(link is external), to assist Islanders get from their communities to the main transit routes in their area. 

The program will be further expanded in early 2022 to include a western PEI route connecting communities west of Summerside with the existing routes to complete an Island-wide system from Tignish to Souris. 

“This partnership will ensure safe, convenient and accessible transportation options for Islanders to get where they need to go,” said Minister of Transportation and Infrastructure James Aylward. “Having reliable public transit for all Islanders will have widespread benefits, including reducing our carbon footprint and reducing transportation barriers for rural Islanders.”

With transportation being one of the largest carbon emitters in the province, this initiative is key in reaching PEI’s goal of being the first net zero province in Canada by 2040. 

“Transportation is one of the leading causes of greenhouse gas emissions in our province,” said Minister of Environment, Energy and Climate Action Steven Myers. “To meet our ambitious climate targets, we need to help Islanders make greener transportation choices and this is another step in the right direction on our path to net zero.”

The new Island-wide Public Transit system will provide safe, reliable, and affordable public transit for all residents across the province to work, study, or access essential services across the province while helping reduce greenhouse gas emissions.   

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