Scania has urged fleet operators looking to switch to electric trucks not to be distracted by the cost of the vehicles and focus instead on their aims, objectives and ambitions as a business.
Speaking during a presentation at Road Transport Expo at NAEC Stoneleigh, Scania head of transformation, Karima Haji (pictured), urged hauliers to carry out full due diligence and work with the manufacturer on a plan that meets their specific needs.
“To prepare for electrification you have to change your mindset and that’s difficult when you’re talking to very traditional organisations with a focus very much on the product,” she said.
“It’s important that this is something operators need to do themselves. Scania are there to hold your hand in the transition but you have to stop thinking about the vehicles. Focus on your business - what’s your operation? What are your ambitions, what do you want to achieve? Based on that we will tailor a solution to help you. There is no one size fits all.”
Haji went on to outline the new consultative sales approach Scania UK is using to sell its products and its plan to become a central point of contact for customers while their chosen tailored electric solution is implemented.
“The key is understanding whether you’re doing back-to-base charging or charging on route,” she continued.
“Also what range you cover per day, and does the route differ by day, week or month? What regulations do you need to abide by? Do you have grid capacity or is there a substation near your premises? We’ll help you understand all those different variations. How are you going to finance the battery electric vehicle, for example? You may need different finance options to the ones you’re used to. There are also different needs in terms of servicing and driver training.
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“How are your revenues going to be affected? With the energy crisis are you getting the best electricity supply to protect your revenues?
“There’s plenty to consider but switching to electric shouldn’t overwhelm you. We’re here to help you electrify your business.”
Haji added that by starting early firms can learn about electrification without taking too much risk: “You can then scale up the share of electric vehicles in the fleet in steps, and do the necessary investments in vehicles and charging infrastructure in a controlled and cost-effective way,” she said.
Scania has pledged to help customers develop their charging set-up and infrastructure, repair and maintenance schedules, digital management solutions, telematics and organise finance – as well as configuring the right solution to meet their needs.
Before developing any solutions, customers are asked to consider their aims, objectives and ambitions. Answering these will help develop a solution that works.
The next step is to carry out a thorough analysis to build up a picture of the best solutions that will suit their operations.
By using vehicle and fleet data, the analysis defines the charging requirements of the vehicles as well as forecasting the energy needs for the operation’s electrification roadmap.
From this deep-level analysis Scania can build different solutions that could work and uniquely tailor them for each customer, based on their needs.
