Electric Mobility - 3 Benefits for companies

Comparisons of the most popular models and the impact of subsidies on TCO .

April 4, 2019

The sustainability of a business is no longer a "beautiful phrase" that many people talk about, but few who take it seriously. From the reduction of carbon footprint to waste separation, the small and large Romanian companies are becoming more aware that "we have to do something", and this starts right from the workplace. The legal framework, as well as corporate and employee initiatives, bring sustainability of businesses to the forefront through concrete measures. In this context, electro-mobility of fleets is one of the areas that promise the most benefits to the environment, society and business.

Stop the waste of fuels. Start saving money for your business

Every driver in Romania knows that gasoline and diesel have increased in recent years. Even though oil is falling into international markets, taxes will always keep the price of a full high. Even if the vehicle has fuel-saving systems such as automatic shutdown. On the other hand, electrified vehicles (hybrid plug or 100% electric) have great potential for reducing fuel costs. The electric motor is in principle more efficient than the internal combustion engine. An internal combustion engine burns fuel and uses that energy to drive. Instead, the electric motor uses the stored energy just to move the car, which means less energy loss in the system. On average, the thermal engine efficiently uses 15% - 20% of the energy stored in fuels. Instead, electric vehicles have an efficiency of over 70%. What does this thing mean? It means that most of the energy used in a gasoline-powered car is scattered. This money turns into smoke, it does not help your business in any way. Instead, if you decide to use an electric fleet, fleet exploitation economies grow substantially. Here's the exact cost of using the same VW Golf with four engine variants - gasoline, diesel, plug-in hybrid and electric . For the last two powertrains, the scenarios without subsidies were also used.

As shown in the above chart, under the tax incentives (subsidy + tax cuts), the Golf Electric model has the lowest monthly cost of use! By expanding the reference range to the other classes, here is a comparison of other models, including BMW i3 (e-Golf, Tesla Model S and Zoe), the most sold electric model in Romania according to DRPCIV.

Protect the environment without affecting your business

Electric cars have succeeded in eliminating or mitigating two major obstacles over the past few years to the rapid adoption of the electric motor: reduced autonomy between two loads and charging time. As you've noticed that the latest phone models "hold" more than their predecessors, so the electric cars have greater autonomy. The new models of electric cars are equipped with lithium-polymer batteries, similar to those in mobile phones. These vehicles display hundreds of kilometers of autonomy and can be charged to special, high power outlets in cities and along main national roads in less than an hour. Once you realize that you will not stay in traffic, with the battery drained of energy after a short road, say home from office, it's time to talk about the other advantages of the electric motor. The first would be to eliminate oil consumption and oil filters. This means that at least once a year you will say "step" to the paid service visit. You will do the same with the brake pads. For energy recovery models that turn braking into electric power, the brake pads are much less used and so much less changed. Moreover, because the electric motor does not have so many moving parts, it wears out much harder, which is a reason to go down to service. All these elements make electrical machines more reliable than those with internal combustion. Over time, you will experience fewer service hours and fewer expenditures on consumables. In other words, the total cost of using electric cars decreases (compared to the use of internal combustion engines) as you use them more intensely! There is a minimal run after which the use of an electric motor becomes more economical than the one with internal propulsion, but it differs from class to class. We will return to a future material with calculations and examples. To these advantages are added subsidies and tax exemptions. For example, the subsidy for a full electric car amounts to 45,000 lei. Last year the number of electric cars reached 710, an increase of three times the level in 2017. The number of plug-in hybrid models (where the "only" 20,000 lei) sold in 2018 was 570, increased by 2.5 times compared to 2017, and the hybrid models reached the 5,200 units sold, up 70% from 2017! With the use of organic cars, the network of loading points in Romania is growing rapidly. This is how it has evolved in recent years:

Iar în anii următori există planuri serioase de a extinde numărul stațiilor electrice. Numai EnelX va instala în jur de 2.500 de puncte de încărcare până în anul 2023 în toate regiunile din România, în orașele mari și pe drumurile principale.

Give your employees a car that others still dream about

There is no secret that the lack of qualified employees prevents many companies from increasing to the potential. Moreover, HR departments "fight" for the best employees and offer them attractive packages to convince them not to leave the company. A new, electric, fleet can be a consistent incentive, worth taking into account when making calcules for the retention of the best employees. Electric cars attract pedestrians and traffickers alike. An electric car with the insignia of the company that travels through the city will practically make you free advertising just by its presence. In addition, by using an electrified fleet, you are aligning sustainability trends from the start, without having to wait excitedly about the environmental regulations imposed at European level or any rules imposed by your customers / partners. You can be a leader in this area, not a follower.

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