EV Suitability Assessment

Learn how the EVSA uses your fleet data to find EVs that can replace your current vehicles.

The Electric Vehicle Suitability Assessment (EVSA) helps you identify electric vehicles (EVs) that can replace the non-electric vehicles in your fleet. To perform the analysis, the EVSA uses your fleet telematics data to build an accurate view of your fleet's drive cycle.

Recommendation criteria

The EVSA analyzes the driving data for your fleet vehicles and recommends an EV replacement that meets all of the following conditions.

Condition

Description

Range capability

The EV replacement meets the daily driving range requirement of the current fleet vehicle without charging en route during the day. If the EV can't meet the range requirement, it isn't recommended as a replacement.

Charging viability

The EV replacement stays long enough in designated charging zones to be sufficiently charged for the next set of trips without charging en route during the day.

Lifetime cost

The lifetime cost of the EV replacement must be less than or equal to the cost of the equivalent non-electric vehicle. Lifetime cost considers EV incentives and the funds that your organization has allocated to reduce emissions, if applicable.

Note:

The range analysis uses degraded real-world range. This is the expected EV range in cold weather, when battery efficiency is reduced and the heating system stays on.

Who should use the EVSA

The EVSA helps fleet managers decide whether EVs are a suitable option for their fleet. Run an assessment when a set of vehicles is near the end of its life and due for replacement. The assessment shows which EV options are available in your market, their base prices, and whether the vehicles you select are good candidates for EV replacement.

Questions the EVSA helps answer

The EVSA helps you answer the following questions:

  • Which EV models are available in my local market, and can they do the job?
  • Is switching to EVs viable from an operational and financial perspective?
  • Which of my current fleet vehicles are good candidates to replace with EVs?
  • Do my vehicles stay long enough in a uniform location so that the EV replacements can be charged adequately on an ongoing basis?
  • What would the greenhouse gas reduction be if I switch?

Requirements and supported countries

Check which vehicles, countries, data, and access the EVSA needs.

Supported vehicle types

The EV Suitability Assessment (EVSA) supports the following vehicle types:

  • Passenger cars
  • Crossovers and SUVs
  • Minivans
  • Pickup trucks
  • Light-duty vans

Supported countries

The EVSA is officially available in the following countries:

  • United States
  • Canada
  • United Kingdom
  • Germany
  • The Netherlands
  • Belgium
  • Spain
  • France
  • Italy
  • Ireland
  • Poland
  • Singapore
  • Mexico
  • Brazil
  • Colombia
  • Chile
  • Australia
  • New Zealand

Support in these countries includes the user interface language, units of measurement, currency, local vehicle model availability, and default costs.

Using the EVSA in an unsupported country

If you live in a country that isn't supported, you can still run the EVSA. The following differences apply:

  • The EVSA doesn't restrict the EV model selection to your local market.
  • You must review and update the default costs to match your locale.
  • The assessment uses US dollars as the currency.
  • Units of measurement are metric.

Data requirements

Each vehicle should have at least one month of data collected in MyGeotab to get a suitable recommendation. Fleets with seasonal drive cycles should run the EVSA using data collected over a longer period.

User access

To run an assessment, you need access to all vehicles in the database. In MyGeotab, set your Data Access property to Everything on the Edit User page.

Support

If you have a support issue with the EVSA, find your support contact details on the Contact Information page. For more information, see Additional support. For other ways to get help, see Support options.

How the EVSA works

Learn how the EVSA uses telematics data to check range, charging, and lifetime cost for each vehicle.

The EV Suitability Assessment (EVSA) uses two data sources to make a recommendation:

  • Driving telematics data collected from the vehicle.
  • Geotab's simulation data for various EV makes and models.

Telematics data gives the EVSA an accurate view of each vehicle's daily driving distance, fuel consumption, dwell locations, and stopping durations.

Range analysis

For an EV to be recommended as a replacement, it must meet the daily driving distance requirements without charging en route before it returns to a location where it can charge. The EVSA compares each vehicle's daily trip distances to the projected EV range, based on the real-world battery consumption of the selected EVs. The comparison is made monthly and takes the local monthly temperature into account. If the number of en-route charging events is within the allowed limit, the EV is considered range-capable.

If a vehicle reports trip data for fewer than 12 calendar months, the EVSA replays trips from other months to cover the entire year. Months that use trip data from other months are labeled Assumed Data on the range charts. For more information, see Monthly range assurance.

Charging viability analysis

The EVSA can check whether your vehicles stop long enough in locations where charging infrastructure is, or will be, available to meet their charging needs. After you define the charging locations, the EVSA evaluates every stop to determine whether it's in a charging zone. It then simulates the energy that goes into the battery, based on 7.6 kW charging power, and compares it with the energy the vehicle needs for its next set of trips.

The EVSA supports two scenarios:

  • Charging at designated workplace locations.
  • Charging at designated workplace locations and drivers' homes.

You select the zones that define your workplace locations. You don't need to create or select zones for drivers' homes, because the EVSA detects these locations automatically. The EVSA assumes that a driver's home is the location where a vehicle stops for the longest time outside any selected workplace zone.

You can also skip the charging viability analysis. In that case, the EVSA doesn't ask you to select zones, and it assumes that each vehicle starts every day with a full battery.

Cost analysis

The EVSA calculates the lifetime cost of replacing a vehicle with an EV and compares it with the lifetime cost of replacing it with an equivalent new non-electric vehicle. The following cost components are usually considered:

  • Vehicle acquisition costs, whether the vehicle is purchased or leased.
  • Resale value, based on annual depreciation, for purchased vehicles.
  • Maintenance.
  • Fuel and electricity.
  • EV procurement incentives.
  • Low emission zone charges, where applicable.

By default, an EV is recommended only if its lifetime cost is less than or equal to the lifetime cost of the non-electric equivalent. To recommend EVs that cost more, set an EV premium. For more information, see Assessment preference options.

Vehicle size matching

The EVSA recommends EVs of a similar size to the selected non-electric vehicle. If no EV matches the vehicle's size, the EVSA evaluates EVs that are one size larger. If none are available, it evaluates EVs that are one size smaller. The EVSA never recommends an EV that is two sizes different from the original vehicle. For example, it doesn't recommend a small EV van to replace a large van.

When the recommended EV isn't the same size as the existing vehicle, the recommendations table displays a note. For more information, see Recommended EV replacements.