Measuring and Managing Vehicle Utilisation in an Electric Fleet

Vehicle utilisation in an electric fleet describes how much electric vehicles are used within a defined operational service. It becomes meaningful when you analyse time in use, availability, charging windows and unfulfilled requests together. Mileage alone is not enough: it says little about whether a vehicle was available at the right time for the right task.

The aim of a utilisation analysis is a fleet that fulfils its intended duties. Achieving the highest possible percentage is not a useful goal on its own. A specifically required reserve can also make operational sense. Your software should therefore show clearly which times and vehicles are included in an analysis.

Define the denominator first

Define the operating time offered. For example, a pool vehicle might be bookable for ten hours on each of 20 working days. This gives 200 available hours. If 120 of them are actually used, time-based utilisation is 60 per cent.

You need to decide how to treat workshop visits, charging periods and return inspections. Document both the capacity originally offered and justified restrictions. Otherwise, a percentage could rise simply because more and more hours disappear from the denominator.

Useful additional measures include booked time, actual time in use, fulfilled requests, rejected requests and planned reserve hours. A gap between bookings and actual use can indicate excessive time buffers. It can also result from deliberately generous scheduling. Check the underlying process to establish the reason.

Separate the usage profile from an availability problem

A vehicle may cover few kilometres per week and still be indispensable. Consider short, time-critical trips carrying equipment, or a vehicle that needs to remain ready for a particular assignment. Record the operational purpose as a separate item.

Electric vehicles also have planned charging windows. A parked vehicle may be plugged in and already sufficiently charged for a later trip. Whether it can be used at short notice depends on the job requirements, available energy and operational authorisation. “Plugged in” does not imply a universal availability status.

FEMP recommends bringing together fleet inventory, location and operating profiles for fleet planning. This principle supports collecting data around the tasks vehicles fulfil. Source: Fleet Management Framework.

Practical example: Identifying demand at the right times

Illustrative calculation: A site offers four pool vehicles for ten hours on each of 20 working days. The available time is 4 × 20 × 10 = 800 vehicle-hours. Actual use totals 480 hours; time-based utilisation is 60 per cent.

Nevertheless, six trip requests remain unfulfilled. All fall between eight and ten on Tuesdays and Thursdays. The monthly value does not reveal this bottleneck. The software analysis should therefore also show how many vehicles are requested simultaneously in each time window.

In this example, the first checks are whether returns on the previous day are recorded reliably, charging windows match demand and long-term bookings are still needed. Only after these checks can a decision be made on additional capacity. The utilisation percentage alone supports neither reducing nor expanding the fleet.

The data you need

Start with a table containing the vehicle identifier, operational purpose, booking start, booking end, actual return and a documented availability status. Add a reason for blocked periods. Charging-related restrictions should be identifiable as a separate reason when they genuinely prevent use.

Unfulfilled requests also belong in the analysis. Record the date, required vehicle class, time window and reason for rejection. This does not necessarily require continuous tracking of vehicle movements. Choose the data that answers the specific capacity question.

Ensure that vehicle identifiers remain stable. A registration number change must not create an apparently new usage profile. The article on vehicle master data in fleet software explains how to handle such changes.

Worksheet for a four-week review

Choose a representative period and flag public holidays, special assignments or exceptional outages. Use these questions as a worksheet:

• Which vehicle groups fulfil the same operational task?

• How many vehicle-hours were originally planned?

• Which restrictions were planned and which were unexpected?

• When are requests concentrated?

• Which bookings were not used at all or were used for less time?

• Which trips could not take place because a suitable vehicle or charging window was unavailable?

• Which organisational change can be tested next?

Choose one specific change and assess its effect over another suitable period. Keep service quality and rejected requests visible. Higher utilisation is only useful if tasks can still be completed reliably.

Turn the findings into software requirements

You need separate fields for planned, booked, used and blocked time. It should also be possible to filter the analysis by vehicle group and time window. In a demonstration, check whether corrections to return times change the calculation transparently.

A fleet dashboard with clearly defined metrics can help make this part of a regular workflow. The technical availability of a booking or telematics connection must be assessed separately for your environment.

StromNow supports charging overviews and the assignment of charging sessions to vehicles. With StromNow for fleets, you can discuss your requirements for charging organisation and vehicle use. This does not automatically include a commitment to a complete booking or utilisation feature.