Right here at Charged, we write loads about industrial EV fleets, and one matter that’s frequently arising is how getting utility service to a charging depot could be a huge bottleneck.

Peter Westlake is the Supervisor of New Merchandise and Companies on the Orlando Utilities Fee, and he oversees the utility’s intensive electrification efforts. In a latest interview, he careworn how vital it’s for fleet operators to start out speaking to their native utilities very early within the sport.

“A conventional fleet will not be a key account for a utility—not a lot of an influence draw,” Westlake instructed us. “Rapidly you electrify it, we’ve bought an enormous buyer. We’re not within the enterprise of speaking to fleets on a normal foundation. We speak to Common Studios, we speak to the airport, we speak to the hospitals, as a result of they’re massive prospects, and we’re higher attuned with what they’re doing. However EV fleets are new issues which are taking place.  At OUC we’re taking steps to rectify this by reaching out to native fleet operators.”

Fleet operators and utilities are beginning to acknowledge that they should work collectively. “You possibly can’t buy 100 electrical automobiles after which ask your native utility to come back arrange the charging infrastructure shortly,” Westlake explains. “Consequently, OUC is attempting to succeed in out proactively and begin to tackle this want earlier than the fleet is bought. We procured a database that tells us who’s investing in fleet automobiles, and we’re attempting to interact them in a dialog. Let’s get forward of issues and begin speaking about what the true prices are, and let’s speak concerning the timing. It takes a 12 months to get a transformer. In the event you’re going to discover putting in EVs that can take your energy load over what I’ve bought allotted for you proper now, I’ve bought to improve your infrastructure. It’d take me one to 2 years to do this, so the earlier I’ve a dialog with you…”

Fleets have a tendency to start out the electrification course of with small-scale pilots, and plenty of don’t turn into conscious of the complexities of charging infrastructure till they begin scaling up. Westlake is attempting to get in contact with fleets on the pilot stage. “When that pilot’s profitable (and we all know it is going to be), you’re going to order 100 extra of this stuff and it is advisable be in lockstep with us planning for that in order that we are able to order the transformer, order the upgrades and get them on the listing. So when the vehicles arrive, you’ve bought locations to plug them in.”

Sadly, different utilities across the county will not be practically as forward-looking. “We simply joined the Trucking Upkeep Council, which is a fleet group, and we attended their convention right here in Orlando. We had been one in every of solely two utilities that attended,” says Westlake. “That’s a nationwide convention, and solely two utilities confirmed up. So these are two teams that must get collectively, and they should begin doing it now.”

I requested Westlake how lengthy it might take to get a brand new EV fleet attached with—for instance—seven megawatts of energy. “Properly, the reply is determined by further data I would wish. What sort of energy is already served on the location? Do I’ve seven megawatts of energy functionality? I may not have a transformer sufficiently big to have the ability to dispatch that. At a minimal, if I’m going to improve the transformer, it’s in all probability a 12 months to do this form of work. If I’ve bought to convey energy, like a brand new duct financial institution or a brand new major energy supply to the situation, that might prolong the venture into two years. If I want to put in a brand new substation, then now we’re speaking years. The lead time may be big in our enterprise, which is why we have to know what your plans are through the pilot stage, not through the transition section.”