There is growing interest among fleets for shared charging facilities, with DPD and Royal Mail prepared to share access to their infrastructure, according to the most recent Fleet News at 10.
Paul Hollick, chair of the Association of Fleet Professionals (AFP), told the monthly webinar that the two delivery firms were keen to open up their charging facilities to other fleet operators.
It comes after the AFP announced it was investigating the opportunities and challenges of sharing charging points in January.
The trade association formed a new committee to look at ways in which businesses can make their own chargers available to other organisations.
Research, commissioned by the AFP last year, showed almost two-thirds (62%) of fleets would consider allowing electric vans from other operators to access charging infrastructure at their depots.
Hollick explained that 30-plus fleets had so far shown interest in the initiative, adding: “We’re just now thinking about the mechanics behind it, and we will be talking to industry players about software solutions.”
He acknowledged that there would be problems to overcome to make infrastructure sharing a success, such as the mechanism for payment and a process of booking access to individual chargers, particularly at times of peak charging demand, but he believes these can be overcome.
Last month, Niall Riddell, CEO and co-founder of Paua, revealed that the technology company is exploring solutions for the sharing of charging facilities at depots so they can be used by different fleets.
Lorna McAtear, joint deputy chair of the AFP and head of fleet at the National Grid, told Fleet News at 10: “There are now software platforms out there that never used to exist. While we've had the appetite for (shared charging) for a good few years, we’re actually now getting the innovations coming through that enable us to be able to do something.”
To watch the discussion about shared electric vehicle charging infrastructure on Fleet News at 10, click below.