The Complete Guide to Emergency Services EV Fleets
In this guide we lay out the processes for essential and emergency services EV fleets to begin planning their charging infrastructure.
We have 10 years of experience working with essential fleets.
We have installed over 1000+ sockets so far, for the UK’s NHS Trusts, Ambulance, Police and Fire & Rescue Services.
We have a 99% renewal rate amongst our emergency service partners.
Why electrify emergency service fleet vehicles?
Lower your running costs
On average, Internal Combustion Engine (ICE) vehicles have an efficiency of 40%, with 60% of their potential energy lost through heat and friction. EVs use far less energy when travelling over their ICE counterparts. They are also 30% cheaper to maintain than an ICE vehicle due to them having fewer moving parts.
Support your ESG goals
Across the UK, essential fleets are setting key sustainability targets. Electrifying your fleet is a powerful way to decarbonise your organisation, whilst furthering your corporate social responsibility goals.
Health and climate benefits
The transport sector accounts for 29% of all UK carbon emissions, with the majority being from road transport. ICE vehicles also produce harmful pollutants such as nitrogen oxides that have a negative impact on respiratory health. By switching your fleets, you will have a positive environmental and health impact on your community.
Can All Emergency Service Vehicles Be Electrified?
Yes. However, we recommend that you do not start with your rapid response vehicles. The daily journeys of these vehicles are, by nature, very unpredictable. They cover large and unanticipated distances at high speeds. Mer recommends taking a phased approach to an EV fleet transition.
Not every emergency services vehicle is an ambulance, fire engine or police car. By first transitioning your non-essential vehicles through various pilot schemes, you can identify any challenges early. This means that when you are ready to make the shift with your mission critical vehicles, you have a better understanding of EV fleet operation and can adjust accordingly.
Which non-emergency vehicles should we electrify first?
Company Cars
Pool cars used by community workers or senior management are perfect for electrification. If your organisation offers company vehicles to employees, you could consider adopting an ‘EV-only’ company car policy too.
Community Outreach
Vehicles whose work centres around the community, such as educational teams in the fire and police services and patient transport buses for the NHS, have a relatively low and predictable mileage in most cases. These are therefore ideal for switching to electric.
Support Services
From vans of the estates management teams to police forensic vehicles, support vehicles are another key contender for early electrification, as their duty cycle and journey times are predictable in advance.
How do I electrify an emergency services fleet?
There are many different factors that play into crafting an effective emergency services fleet transition strategy. When starting on a fleet electrification project we always ask the following questions:
EV chargers require a lot of energy. Electrical site surveys are crucial to understand what power is available across estates today and if there are power constraints. New power connections may be necessary if your current power availability is insufficient to support the demands of your emergency services electric fleet. Workarounds can be used to mitigate costs and avoid grid connection upgrades such as load balancing and renewable energy source integrations.
Are your emergency services vehicles stored in a depot, or are they parked outside? We must work out the spatial constraints of where to place the chargers in a way that streamlines your operations. This can take the form of a site walk, supplemented with bespoke 3D modelling and detailed design plans.
Our team needs to understand your operational requirements, to know which EV chargers are required for emergency services vehicles. Whilst rapid and ultra-rapid charging is suited to quick ‘top-up’ chargers, fast charging is best for longer, overnight charges when there is ample time.
Whilst you need to ensure there is enough charging provision available to cater for your entire emergency services EV fleet, you do not want to over install, as this takes up unnecessary space and capital.
Mer, understands the criticality of uptime for essential emergency services vehicles and has developed robust SLAs and maintenance support to ensure that uptime is maximised, specifically tailored for essential and emergency services fleets.
Feature highlight: What is load balancing?
Load balancing is a technique that automatically distributes the available power to multiple vehicles. This helps to lower the energy consumption across the chargers and uses smart charging software to ensure each vehicle gets the right amount of charge at the right time. This saves money on energy bills.
