Electric vehicle fleet fuels sustainability and savings
EnerSys Hawker® batteries have been riding in style down in Texas. Battery Concepts International, an authorized dealer representative for Hawker® batteries, has been utilizing a small fleet of electric vehicles (EVs), to deliver and service EnerSys Hawker® batteries for customers across the Texas region since 2017.
John Kenemore, CEO of Battery Concepts International, and certified Hawker® battery expert, led the switch to the EV Fleet, which currently consists of 4 vehicles (2 sales cars and 2 service vehicle trucks), and will soon be growing to 7. “We love the fleet,” said John. “The benefits are incredible.” John notes that the total cost of maintenance for the first electric truck was $174 within the first 50,000 miles. Despite the milage the service technicians have put on the car, the only maintenance needed was one tire alignment, and replacement of the windshield wipers and air filter.
The savings don’t stop there. John estimates that fuel expenses dropped from around $7,500 monthly for their old gasoline-powered vehicles, to around $1,400 per month for the new EV fleet. To take it a step further, John also added a 20kW solar array on his home where he charges a truck and a personal EV. “Each week, even with 400+ miles on each vehicle, we’re spending less than $25 per vehicle to charge,” says John. John and his team use about 40% of the energy from each car’s battery every day and recharges them at night. “We hear people talk and complain about the price of fuel, but that no longer has an impact on us,” says John.
As service vehicles, the electric trucks are outperforming the gas-powered vehicles utilized previously in the fleet. The electric trucks can carry 500lbs more than the previous trucks. The bed of each truck has a sliding cover that can close and lock over items in the bed, which better protects toolboxes and EnerSys Hawker® batteries from outside elements, and even theft, according to John. The electric trucks also offer better braking compared to gas-powered trucks, which is incredibly important when hauling heavy batteries in the bed. The regenerative braking feature also slows down the vehicle and feeds any surplus power back to the battery for additional efficiency.
The benefits don’t stop there. The truck beds are equipped with three AC outlets (two 120V outlets and one 240V outlet), giving service technicians a reliable power source for tools and other equipment, regardless of where their service work takes place. John is also seeing benefits from charging his truck at his own home
John and his team are overall thrilled at how well the EVs have served the business. But John says he wasn’t able to do it alone. “Without the help and support of the EnerSys Hawker® family and the quality of their products, we would not have been able to test and execute on an EV fleet and see such a decrease in operating expenses.”
We’re honored to have an innovative and hard-working distributor like John on our team, and we are looking forward to applying his lessons-learned from his EV fleet to further electrify other parts of the larger EnerSys fleet, which will help us take an important step towards our Scope 1 neutrality goal.
