EV troubleshooting for European fleets
EVs are no longer new to European fleets – but neither are the problems that come with them.
As adoption has scaled, a distinct set of operational challenges has become a consistent feature of fleet life across the continent – ones that didn’t exist a decade ago and that most fleet strategies are still catching up with.
Here we explore the issues we’re seeing across our European client base, what’s driving them and the actions fleet managers should be taking.
Issue 1: Cold weather range loss
The diagnosis
The spec sheet says one thing. A January morning in Helsinki says another.
Lithium-ion batteries perform less efficiently in cold weather – the electrochemical reactions that power the pack slow significantly as temperatures drop and the problem compounds quickly when you factor in heating, which draws from the same source.
When you’re operating in sub-zero conditions, real-world range can plummet by an average of 38% compared to WLTP figures. For some places, this isn’t an occasional occurrence, it’s everyday for months at a time.
Action
The good news is that winter range loss can be manageable, but it requires a few habit changes.
Start with pre-conditioning. Warming the cabin and battery while the vehicle is still plugged in means less battery power is being used, helping make a difference to the range.
Look at route planning as well. A long journey that looks achievable in August may not be in February and a driver finding it out halfway through is a problem that could have been avoided.
Issue 2: rural infrastructure gaps
The diagnosis
The charging map often looks better than the charging reality.
Major motorway corridors are increasingly well served, but venture beyond them and the infrastructure thins out quickly.
In rural Poland, southern Spain, the Balkans and much of Central and Eastern Europe, drivers can still find themselves in regions where working chargers are few and far between – and not always reliable.
Action
Don’t send EVs where the network can’t support them. It may sound obvious, but what looks like reasonable coverage from a desk in head office can feel very different to a driver trying to find a working charger in rural Portugal.
Know your routes and assign EVs to those ones where reliability is known. Keep ICE or plug-in hybrids available for the areas that aren’t ready yet.
Charging infrastructure will eventually improve, but fleets need to keep moving today.
Issue 3: software updates
The diagnosis
Most people have experienced the frustration of a smartphone update changing things without warning.
EVs work in exactly the same way. Over-the-air (OTA) software updates can often happen out of the blue, usually while the vehicle is parked overnight and, in most cases, nobody gives them a second thought. Occasionally, though, they can cause an issue.
Charge schedules get wiped, departure times reset, regenerative braking behaves differently without any warning to the driver. What feels like a minor issue can quickly become a big one if lots of vehicles are affected.
Action
After any OTA update, check that key vehicle settings are still correct. This can save you and your drivers a lot of stress!
If you have an account manager at the OEM, use that relationship to get ahead of major updates, rather than finding out about them when something breaks.
When issues do crop up, report them back to the manufacturer with enough detail – fleets that report issues clearly and consistently can often get faster fixes.
Drivers should also be told when a major update has taken place and what, if anything, may feel different.
Issue 4: inconsistent public chargers
The diagnosis
A charger on the map is not necessarily a charger that works. Any fleet manager who has spent time looking at driver feedback will know exactly what this means.
Reliability across Europe’s public charging networks varies considerably.
The better rapid charging networks have invested heavily in maintenance and uptime, whereas older AC infrastructure tells a different story. Drivers often pull up to a charger that’s faulty, find a connector that won’t authenticate or discover that the unit has been out of service for days, with no indication of when it will be back up and running.
Behind each of these incidents is a driver standing in a car park trying to work out what to do next, with a schedule to keep and no obvious answer.
Action
Start by understanding which public networks actually perform in the areas your drivers operate. This doesn’t mean the ones with the most pins on a map, but the ones that have the best uptime, the fewest faults and offer the most consistent experience.
Make it a rule that no driver should be dependent on a single public charger for a critical stop. There should always be a back-up, planned in advance, rather than Googled at a service station when the vehicle doesn’t have much mileage left.
When chargers fail or are out of service, make sure your drivers report it so it gets fixed for future journeys.
Issue 5: Payment problems
The diagnosis
Across Europe, paying for charging is an inconsistent experience, with different networks often requiring different cards or apps.
For drivers, it’s an inconvenient and frustrating. For fleets dealing with the paperwork afterwards, from the invoices to reimbursement claims, it’s time-consuming and difficult to see what the business is actually spending on charging.
Action
Standardise charging access wherever possible. Fleet managers should look for charging solutions that give drivers wide network access while giving the business centralised billing, cost control and reporting.
Manage EVs differently
The challenges European EV fleets are facing are real but they’re not a reason to hit the brakes on electrification.
The fleets that are struggling tend to be the ones that have treated EVs as a straight swap for diesel and carried on just as before. Those that have taken the time to adapt are finding that well-managed EVs can be highly effective fleet vehicles.
If you’re looking to electrify your fleet and implement a zero-emissions fleet strategy, get in touch.