In the driving seat for this episode is Carol Roberts, Head of Bid and Implementation at Lex Autolease. With a wealth of experience in helping clients realise the advantages of electrification while simultaneously keeping costs under control, Carol emphasises that the big picture is the one to look at — especially when it comes to costs:
“Making this transition is certainly going to involve costs upfront, but there are long-term running costs to consider too. So, it’s important to look at the whole-life cost scenario and also to make sure that you do your calculations correctly right at the start of the process."
"The good news is, although the initial cost can appear more expensive, longer-term benefits related to running costs and pence per mile, for example, will work out a lot lower. You won’t need to worry about the cost of the diesel. You don’t need to worry about AdBlue. You’ll see far fewer maintenance and servicing bills. Things like that all add up as a true benefit and a real cost saving.”
It's a view endorsed by many of Carol’s fellow LEXperts including Chris Chandler, Principal Consultant at LEX Autolease:
“If you’re looking at transitioning from a cost perspective, you’ll have some areas where there will definitely be costs savings. For instance, electric car fleets certainly have substantial tax benefits so cost savings can be had quite easily done there. You can also get cost savings at the moment with small commercial vehicles. By contrast, larger commercial vehicles often attract a cost premium when going electric. The best advice is not to look at the individual fleet areas: look at the fleet as a whole.”
As with every other topic covered in our LEXpert series, it’s important to remember that you don’t need to go it alone when calculating these costs.
Lex Autolease can help — a point, which is emphasised by Melanie Holmes, Customer Relationship Manager, “if you’ve got a good supplier, they will go through all of this with you to make sure the costs are explained in full.”
