Six practical tips for switching to electric cars in your company
September 2023 - In our country, all the lights are on to accelerate the electrification of company and organisation car fleets. Through new laws, subsidies and incentives, the various authorities are encouraging entrepreneurs and their employees to switch from fossil fuels to electricity.
In this context, 2026 is an important milestone, because from that year onwards, tax incentives for conventional company cars with combustion engines will be gradually reduced and abolished.
The transition to a green car fleet requires good preparation, which is best approached in a structured and considered way. Only in this way can you make the exercise a success in your company or organisation and ensure sufficient support from employees and external stakeholders.
Identify the strategic issues
As the switch to an electric fleet will have a major impact on your organisation, it is crucial to identify the following elements - in consultation with an external consultancy firm, if necessary:
- the desired size of your vehicle fleet, taking into account, among other things, the application of teleworking and your company's property strategy;
- the desired compatibility between employees - depending on their driving profile and future mobility needs - and electric mobility;
- the need for recharging infrastructure, both within your organisation and at employees' homes;
- purchasing criteria, with an in-depth look at the supply chain and current leasing conditions;
- changes to be expected in the regulatory environment (tax and social).
Draw up an electric mobility scenario
Do you and your colleagues now have a clearer view of these strategic points? Then it's time to draw up a concrete scenario. This transition plan consists of the following steps:
Step 1 | Make it easy.
To bring the transition to electric mobility to cruising speed in your organisation, you can start with action points that require relatively little effort, such as :
- replacing expiring "traditional" company car leasing contracts with a sustainable alternative;
- using electric car ambassadors in your organisation to encourage other colleagues to adopt green mobility;
- possibly launching driving courses (defensive driving, anti-skid driving courses, etc.) to reward employees who are pioneers in electric driving.
Step 2 | Draw up a driver profile for each worker.
The next step is to identify how your workers travel between home and work. This exercise - which doesn't have to be too detailed - gives you an interesting look at the driver profiles in your organisation. Among other things, you will learn:
- what is the share of each means of transport (car, public transport, bicycle, walking... or a combination of these);
- the average number of kilometres travelled between home and work;
- which category of vehicle is most popular;
- which leasing contracts are due to expire on which dates.
Step 3 | Compare electric car models and make an initial selection.
As a third step, it is useful - based on the results of step 2 - to draw up a list of available electric car models in collaboration with internal and external stakeholders. The range of electric cars on offer is increasing rapidly, so it's vital that you keep abreast of the latest models and trends.
As part of this comparative study, it's obviously a good idea to take into account the characteristics that are relevant to your employees, such as range, purchase or leasing price, delivery times, load volume, etc. This way, you can already cross certain models (insufficient, too expensive, etc.) off your list.
Step 4 | Compare needs with available electric cars.
Use all the information collected to compare the needs of the workers with a list of suitable electric cars.
Step 5 | Identify all charging options.
Without the necessary recharging infrastructure, the transition from emission cars to electric cars obviously has no chance of succeeding. So it's worth taking the time to analyse the charging options available, and in particular to ask yourself the following questions:
- How many charging points can your company car park accommodate in terms of capacity?
- Does your organisation have access to green electricity?
- Are you involved as an employer in investing in home charging points for your employees?
- Do you plan to use charging cards so that your employees have access to public charging points?
Given the complexity of this subject - and the growing range of charging solutions on offer - it can be useful to embark on this adventure with an external partner who can guide you through the jungle of charging options. That way, you can keep a clear overview.
