A recent report from BloombergNEF predicts municipal EV sales will reach 24% by 2026. Globally, electric demands to power those fleets will grow fivefold, from 201 TWh in 2022 to 1,027 TWh in 2030. This means perennial fleet issues like reliability and energy costs will only become more important.
The sector is full of competing strategies and ideas, but one in particular stands apart. ABM Industries believes its vision will help fleets transition with confidence – without sacrificing service today.
ABM is a leader in the nation’s electrification efforts. It is the largest commercial installer of EVSE – and a sought-after subject matter expert on preparing and maintaining eMobility infrastructure.
In 2023, the company opened its Atlanta Electrification Center. The 43,000 square-foot facility serves four purposes: training a new generation of technicians, testing emerging technologies, and monitoring fleet ecosystem performance and warehouse equipment.
As ABM CEO Scott Salmirs explained, “The investment in the new state-of-the-art Electrification Center is a reflection of our commitment to help future-proof the eMobility and EV landscapes across industries.”
For ABM fleet clients, this commitment takes shape with the ABM EV ecosystem, a five-part strategy that strengthens fleet operations:
Design, engineering, and installation
One benefit of EVs is that they have fewer parts compared to ICEs. That means fewer points of failure. But fleets often integrate EV in a piecemeal fashion, resulting in multiple unaligned systems managed by various subcontractors. The result? Downtime and blame-shifting.
In contrast, ABM offers end-to-end EV integration. The 360° plan is based on vehicle types, traffic routes and load needs. By overseeing the design, engineering and installation, ABM ensures superior integration across the system.
Onsite, proactive maintenance
It sounds simple: one team, start to finish. But ABM believes it’s the best way to keep op-ex down. Because they know the system, ABM experts maintain uptime with fast, warranty-backed repairs and offer service upgrades to keep pace with technology and regulations.
ABM customers call it a “proactive partnership.” It reduces total cost of ownership and extends the service life for equipment.
Microgrids and power storage
Conversations about “simply installing chargers” can often expand into larger cap-ex projects like microgrids and power storage. But those investments can often be delayed or avoided altogether.
According to ABM, it only matters that your EV strategy accounts for how to adopt them in the future. That could include solar and other renewable energy solutions, including battery and onsite generation. Their experts measure usage capacity and perform switchgear analysis. The multi-prong approach happens onsite, through their proprietary OS, and from the Electrification Center. This means that if a facility one day needs to scale, it will have the infrastructure and team in place to support.
Network reliability
EV fleets present a learning curve for drivers and operators. ABM’s network reliability helps alleviate uncertainty caused by “range anxiety” and trains drivers in techniques to maximize vehicle range.
Operators view performance and savings metrics on one clear dashboard. Organizations get accurate, accessible data with real-time reporting. This new network reliability leads to informed decision-making about usage, programs and pricing.
Hardware interoperability
As the EVSE market matures, there are an increasing number of OEMs to choose from. Some fleets may have a few chargers, others may have none.
The company’s equipment-agnostic approach allows organizations to choose the right chargers to fit their needs. The facility solutions provider’s scale enables them to offer strategic purchasing relationships with major OEMs. This lets fleets draw from a full range of AC and DC charging stations, from 7 kW to 360 kW, to fit their needs. Taken together, this approach allows customers to confidently scale their EV fleet without sacrificing uptime or performance.
As organizations integrate more EVs into their fleets, the municipalities that get ahead of the curve will be the ones with a clear fleet strategy. They will be better poised to meet ever-growing energy and ridership demand, reliably and sustainably. The experience and expertise ABM brings to the table is helping fleets across the country do just that.
