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reports - Deliverable

Benefits, critical issues, lessons learned and replicability of the electrification of the RSE company fleet

reports - Deliverable

Benefits, critical issues, lessons learned and replicability of the electrification of the RSE company fleet

Completion of the electrification plan of the RSE company fleet, with acquisition of new vehicles and creation of an experimental charging area. First vehicle characterization tests and economic comparison with the previous fleet. Development and testing of home charging systems equipped with Charging Infrastructure Controller. Main technical-managerial aspects and analysis of acceptability by employees. Replicability and lessons learned.

During the three-year research period 2019-2021, RSE has paid special attention to the topic of electrification of corporate fleets, which represent one of the first and most relevant candidates for conversion from internal combustion technologies to electric traction. In parallel with theoretical research activities, it was decided to use RSE’s own corporate fleet as a “case study” to test firsthand possible critical issues and opportunities, as well as innovative charging solutions. In 2021 the car fleet conversion process was completed, with the total divestment of diesel vehicles in favor of a combination of pure electric and plug-in hybrids. Still in the past year, the construction of the experimental charging area, consisting of 12 AC charging stations from 5 different manufacturers, was completed. The implementation of a centralized control system capable of communicating with the columns via a dedicated network connection and a dedicated ICT architecture was then launched. The vehicle availability and the new charging infrastructure made it possible to start some experimental activities immediately, which focused in particular on the technical characterization of the cars (especially their fuel consumption and mode of use) and on a preliminary economic assessment regarding the potential economic advantages/disadvantages of the new fleet. The results showed the new vehicles provide more advantages, although under some conditions the costs of public charging and gasoline refueling may make some routes more expensive. In the area of home recharging, advanced solutions were proposed to enable increasing monitoring and control, in strong coordination with CEI activities. Finally, possible critical issues from the management perspective of the new fleet were analyzed and the acceptability of the transition by employees was assessed through special questionnaires.

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