The Best Vehicles to Electrify Are the Ones That Drive the Most

One Minute Charge #02

This is a series of quick hits on the overlooked fundamentals of fleet electrification

Why mileage drives both EV savings and emissions reduction

When deciding which vehicles to electrify first, the answer is often simpler than it seems: start with the ones that drive the most miles.

Electric vehicles typically cost less to operate than gasoline or diesel vehicles. Electricity is usually cheaper than fossil fuels, and EVs have fewer moving parts that require maintenance. But those savings only matter when the vehicle is actually being used. 

The more miles a vehicle drives, the more fuel it consumes — and the more opportunity there is to replace that fuel with electricity. That’s when the economics of electrification begin to add up. 

The same principle applies to emissions reduction. A vehicle that drives 30,000 miles per year produces far more emissions than one that drives 5,000 miles per year. Electrifying the higher-mileage vehicle displaces far more gasoline or diesel. 

In other words, the goal isn’t simply to electrify vehicles. It’s to electrify miles. 

That’s why many of the most successful electrification projects start with high-mileage work vehicles such as delivery vans, service trucks, and other fleet vehicles that operate daily and predictably. 

Because the vehicles that drive the most miles often deliver the biggest economic and environmental impact when they go electric.