Electrify Your Business or Municipal Fleet

Adding electric vehicles to your fleet can help you reduce fuel costs, maintenance, and your carbon footprint. Here's what you need to know.

Types of fleet EVs

Light-duty vehicles
Most major car manufacturers sell light-duty EVs. These plug-in hybrid and all-electric models include vans and trucks that can handle many business needs. To compare different models, use our model comparison tool. If you're ready to test drive, locate new and used EVs at Vermont dealerships.

Medium and heavy-duty vehicles
There's a growing selection of medium- and heavy-duty electric vehicles on the market. Businesses and organizations of all kinds, from utilities to schools, can use them. Even "off-road" vehicles like utility vehicles, tractors, and snowmobiles have electric options, so all sorts of fleets can benefit from cleaner transportation options. The Zero-Emission Technology Inventory (ZETI) contains detailed information on EV options available in this segment.

Cost and emissions reductions

There's a common assumption among businesses and municipalities that electric vehicles are more expensive than gas vehicles. But when you consider total costs, many EVs offer significant savings.

For example, the Champlain Water District analyzed the total cost of ownership for its vehicles, including the up-front and operating costs of a vehicle over its life. The utility discovered it could save $4,745 over each vehicle’s lifetime by switching from gas-powered pick-up trucks to an all-electric option. Learn more in this fleet case study from Vermont Energy Investment Corporation.

In addition to financial savings, companies can also reduce their emissions significantly by switching to EVs. In Vermont, all-electric vehicles drastically reduce carbon emissions compared to gasoline-powered vehicles. That's partly because Vermont's electric grid uses relatively low-polluting sources to generate electricity, and the grid will only become cleaner over time.

Figure 1: Lifetime greenhouse gas emissions from internal combustion vehicles and all-electric vehicles. Source: Energy Action Network.

EV fleet incentives

Even though electric vehicles are more affordable in the long run, they still have high upfront costs. That's where federal, state, and utility incentives may help.

Businesses purchasing electric fleet vehicles may be eligible for federal tax credits. Tax-exempt organizations like municipalities and nonprofits may qualify for direct payments instead of tax credits. By combining these credits with incentives from the state of Vermont and your utility, your organization can make fleet electrification much more affordable. 

See incentives

Fleet electrification assessment

Ready to discuss electrifying your fleet or other ways to make EVs part of your business? Sign up for a free 30-minute consultation with the Drive Electric Vermont team. An expert can work with you one-on-one to understand your existing fleet operations and help your business identify vehicles in your fleet that are suitable candidates for electrification.

Depending on the needs of your organization, Drive Electric Vermont may also be able to provide additional support to better understand the impacts of EV adoption on your business, including:

  • Cost of ownership
  • Charging needs
  • Charging infrastructure costs
  • Emissions and avoided emissions

Ready to get started? 

Schedule a consultation

More resources for electrifying your fleet

Drive Electric Vermont Fleet Electrification Overview
A more detailed look at fleet electrification, including frequently asked questions and next steps for interested businesses or municipalities.

AFLEET tool
Developed by the Argonne National Laboratory, this tool can be used to estimate petroleum use, greenhouse gas emissions, air pollutant emissions, and the cost of ownership for both light-duty and heavy-duty vehicles.

Vehicle cost calculator
Developed by the U.S. Alternative Fuels Data Center, this calculator uses basic information about driving habits to calculate the total cost of ownership and emissions for most vehicles.

Dashboard for Rapid Vehicle Electrification (DRVE) tool
Developed by the Electrification Coalition and Atlas Public Policy, this tool allows users to upload simple fleet data into an Excel spreadsheet. From there, users can analyze and assess the best path forward for deploying EVs.

US Department of Energy's EV fleet resources
For even more resources on fleet electrification, visit the US Department of Energy's website.