GM steers fleet buyers toward EVs

DETROIT — General Motors' fleet customers are past the information-gathering stage for electrifying their fleets. They're now making launch plans, with nearly 370 companies having placed 85,000 reservations for the Chevrolet Silverado EV work truck.

"What was once … 'Tell me about it' is now 'Help me develop a plan to get there,' " Ed Peper, vice president of GM Fleet, told Automotive News. "Their interest level regarding EVs at this point in time is extremely high."

GM's traditional fleet volume has declined during the pandemic and global microchip shortage, but in the first quarter, fleet penetration climbed to 24 percent from 17 percent a year earlier. It's nearing the 28 percent that fleet represented before the pandemic began.

"Fleet companies need replacement vehicles. They are tools of their trade and tools of their business, just like laptop computers are," Peper said. "Our demand has never been greater than it is right now. We are going to be up significantly more than the rest of the industry."

As GM bolsters its traditional fleet business, the automaker also is laying the groundwork for its fleet of commercial electric vehicles under the Chevy brand as well as through BrightDrop, the line of delivery vans it launched last year.

Over the next few years, it will introduce electric fleet options including the Silverado EV, the Equinox EV and a battery-powered Chevy cargo van. It also is working with customers and third parties on charging infrastructure.

GM plans to invest $35 billion in electric and autonomous vehicle development through 2025 and expects much of its volume to come from fleet. Once everyday car buyers see commercial EVs on the road, a personal EV will feel more familiar and attainable, executives have said.

Peper has worked with commercial dealers and overseen Cadillac and Chevy dealers in his nearly four decades with GM.

During the past decade spearheading GM's fleet team, Peper has learned that getting fleet customers on board with the transition to EVs comes down to relationships.

"You've got to have a great total cost of ownership story for your customers, but our business is relationship- based," he said. "We know our customers really, really well."

Peper's focus on relationships goes back to his days working with Chevy and Cadillac dealers, said Keith McCluskey, CEO of McCluskey Chevrolet in Cincinnati. Dealers regard Peper highly for his optimistic nature and personable energy, McCluskey said.

"I couldn't think of a better guy I'd want to have in the boardroom with me trying to close a deal on Kroger or Coca-Cola or Duke Energy," McCluskey said.

At first, Peper said, GM's fleet customers will continue to buy internal combustion vehicles. But they also will purchase large numbers of EVs to reduce the amount it costs to run their fleets and to meet sustainability goals that many large companies have set, he said.

GM's fleet team considers itself an EV consultancy for dealers' customers. That means the team educates fleet buyers on EVs and connects them with third parties for infrastructure solutions.

"We're not just throwing them a playbook and saying, 'Here you go, figure it out yourself,' " Peper said. "Whether a fleet wants to have home charging for their drivers, whether they want to have depot charging or whether they want to engage in public charging for their drivers, we want solutions for all of them."

Initial concerns have centered on range anxiety, Peper said. But with the Silverado EV's range of about 400 miles and the ability to regain 100 miles of range with about 10 minutes of charging, "questions about range anxiety will go away," he said.

That range is made possible by the truck's Ultium batteries, which GM co-developed with LG Energy Solution. The Ultium platform comprises stackable pouch cells that can be reconfigured to power vehicles across segments — from sports cars to pickups and delivery vans.

"There will be less moving parts with EVs. And if there are less parts, that means serviceability is going to be even better for our fleet customers," Peper said. "They want less downtime because every time one of their vehicles is down, they're not making money. And if we can guarantee them that the uptime is there for them, that's a huge thing for fleet customers."

GM has partnered with several charging providers and other companies to simplify EV charging through a program called Ultium 360. On the fleet side, GM works with depot charging providers eTransEnergy, EVgo, InCharge Energy and Schneider Electric. The automaker also works with Qmerit for home charger installation and EVgo for public charging.

The partnerships have helped GM prime its fleet customers for EVs. For example, before Peper met with a large fleet customer this month to discuss transitioning its fleet to EVs, Schneider Electric visited some of the company's franchises and mapped an infrastructure plan.

"There's a little bit more calm when you have folks who really know what they're doing in the space talking with customers about how to provide solutions," Peper said.