Major US fleets join White House EV acceleration plans

The giant fleets of Amazon, Siemens and Hertz are at the vanguard of the White House’s vehicle electrification programme. President Biden today (30 March) announced the first public and private sector investments for affordable electric vehicles, as part of his administration's goal to ensure half of all new vehicles sold by 2030 will be battery-powered.

• Amazon has rolled out over 3,000 electric delivery vehicles since 2022, and has made more than 75 million zero emission parcel deliveries in the last year. The EVs are made by Rivian, and Amazon is targeting 100,000 electric delivery vehicles by 2030.
• Hertz has pledged to increase its electric vehicle rental fleet substantially in 2023, forecasting a five-fold increase in EV rentals to 2 million this year, compared to 2022.
• Trane Technologies has committed to transition its entire global fleet of more than 8,000 vehicles, including light commercial vehicles and trucks, to electric power by 2030.
• And Siemens is installing EV charge points at its US workplaces and the homes of employees as it targets a 100% conversion of its 10,000-vehicle fleet to electric by the end of the decade. It plans to ensure that 10% of all parking spaces at new corporate facilities will have an EV charger.

“One way we’re helping to accelerate the EV transition in America is working on electrifying our own fleet,” tweeted Siemens.

EV transition tools

To help businesses transition to electric vehicles, Google is developing a new search tool that will provide fleet decision makers with information about the availability and coverage of tax credits for eligible zero emission vehicles.

And Wells Fargo will help fleets model the total cost of ownership of EVs via a new tool that that incorporates the cost of electrification, tax credits, cost savings, and environmental benefits.

Waymo switches to Jaguar EVs

As part of the White House announcement, Waymo has revealed that it will transition its entire autonomous ride-hailing fleet to the battery-powered Jaguar I-PACE in April.

EV market and infrastructure

The US now has more than three million EVs on the road and over 132,000 public chargers across the country, according to the White House, which says the tax credits in the Inflation Reduction Act for the acquisition of new and used EVs will further support the nation’s decarbonization goals.

“These incentives will lower the cost of EVs and EV charging infrastructure; increase consumer demand and competition; promote equity and inclusion; and accelerate the growth of the EV market,” said a statement from the White House.

FLEET SUSTAINABILITY WILL BE THE PRINCIPAL FOCUS OF THE GLOBAL FLEET CONFERENCE IN MAY - REGISTER HERE.

Image: Amazon