Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) statistics show that semi-trucks, transit buses, demand response vehicles, delivery trucks, and school buses travel a combined total of nearly 186,000 miles on average annually. With so much annual fleet mileage, route optimization is needed to ensure efficiency – especially when using electric fleet vehicles. Here is what fleet managers need to know about selecting the right charging stations for EV fleets and the necessary features with Blink Fleet Management.
How to Select EV Chargers for Light-Duty, Medium-Duty, and Heavy-Duty Fleets
For fleet EV charging stations, Blink usually recommends a mixture of Level 2 and Direct Current Fast chargers. The exact number you will need depends on your fleet's makeup and electrical capacities.
Light-Duty Vehicles
For a fleet of light-duty vehicles such as police cars, pickup trucks, and delivery vans, we recommend having enough L2 charging stations like the Blink Series 7 ISO to handle the bulk of the daily charging, especially if their routes are all within a short distance and they are parked overnight. In addition to that, we also recommend at least one low-power DCFC like the Blink Series 9 40kW for times when a quick charge is required.
Here are some examples of light-duty EV battery capacities:
2024-2025 Ford F-150 Lightning (Standard Range) – 98 kWh
2024-2025 Ford F-150 Lightning (Extended Range) – 131 kWh
Tesla Model 3 – 50 to 82 kWh
2025 Ford E-Transit Cargo Van – 68 kWh usable energy
2025 Rivian Commercial Van 500 & 700 – 100 kWh
Medium-Duty Vehicles
The right mix of charging stations for medium-duty vehicles depends on your fleet. Consider your fleet routes and schedules. The 80amp, 19.2kW Series 7 ISO and Series 9 40kW DCFC may be sufficient for your needs, or you may require a faster solution.
Here are some examples of medium-duty EV battery capacities:
Average medium-duty step van – 163 kWh in 2022
Average medium-duty truck – 92 kWh in 2022
Average shuttle bus – 150 kWh in 2022
Freightliner eM2 Class 6 truck – 194 kWh
Peterbilt 220EV Class 6 box truck – 141 kWh
Heavy-Duty Vehicles
Heavy-duty vehicles, like electric buses and semis, often use larger batteries and require higher-capacity charging solutions. Due to the size of the battery, heavy-duty electric vehicles need DC fast chargers that can provide a full charge in just a few hours.
Here are some examples of heavy-duty EV battery capacities:
Average transit bus – 345 kWh in 2022
Average coach – 266 kWh in 2022
Average heavy-duty truck – 311 kWh in 2022
Freightliner eM2 Class 7 truck – 291 kWh
Peterbilt 220EV Class 7 box truck – 282 kWh
Lion Electric LionC school bus – 210 kWh
Blue Bird Vision Electric school bus – 155 kWh
Blink 60-360kW DC Fast Chargers are recommended for high-powered medium- and heavy-duty fleet vehicles.
Learn more about how to prolong the life of your fleet with electric vehicles and smart charging.
Blink Fleet Management
Part of the Blink Network, Blink Fleet Management is an add-on for fleet operators that provides useful fleet tools.
Route Planning & Optimization
Blink’s Fleet Management Software includes smart route-planning tools that can help fleet operators reduce downtime and maximize efficiency.
It optimizes fleet driving routes by considering the following factors:
Electric fleet vehicle battery capacity and projected energy consumption.
Charging station locations along routes.
Traffic conditions and terrain, allowing for real-time route adjustments.
Dwell time and charging schedules to prevent unnecessary stops and delays.
By using all these available tools, fleet managers can reduce operational costs by minimizing EV energy consumption and maximizing their vehicles’ uptime. One of the most important ways Blink Fleet Management software optimizes routes and charging times is by balancing the usage of fleet EV charging stations and publicly available charging stations. Utilizing both in-house and public charging stations allows fleet managers to be as cost-effective as possible.
Environmental reports
Blink Fleet Management can provide summaries of environmental impacts, like how much CO2 your fleet charging stations have saved from polluting the air, how many barrels of oil have been saved, how many gallons of liquid fuel they’ve helped you save, and how many millions of dollars you’ve saved per year from not having to buy liquid fuel.
Vehicle management
For large fleets, Blink Fleet Management is adept at helping you keep track of your EVs and their charging statuses. Add the following information for each of your electric fleet vehicles in the Blink Fleet portal:
Vehicle name,
Vehicle Identification Number (VIN),
Make,
Model,
Year, and
kWh efficiency.
You can also group charging stations and vehicles by fleet depot.
Energy usage & schedule management
Blink Fleet Management allows you to schedule specific times for your fleet charging, which means you can take advantage of lower electricity rates by charging during off-peak hours. These are hours when the electrical grid has less demand so rates are lower- typically in the evenings, overnight, on weekends, and on holidays.
Fleet managers can schedule specific plug-in and plug-out times for a charger group, for example, and then schedule the power to start flowing from those chargers at the beginning of off-peak hour rates.
In addition, you can also add minimum, maximum, and target energy levels for your charging stations. This way, you can have your batteries only charge to 80%, for example, which can help with time and vehicle management and allow vehicles to take advantage of regenerative braking features.
Specialized notifications
Blink Fleet Management lets you add a delegate “in charge” for fleet managers, in addition to the Blink Network admin and delegate roles.
Designated roles can receive these notifications:
Early plug-out
Late plug-in
Plug-out below minimum energy level
Customizable Charging Solutions
Regardless of your fleet’s vehicle mix, Blink provides tailor-made charging solutions to meet the unique requirements of different fleet types and seamlessly integrate with route planning strategies.
For example, Blink teamed up with Fontana Unified School District to supply charging stations for their fleet of electric school buses. We helped Fontana procure funding and understand the EV charging capacity that was needed for its electric school bus fleet. In the end, Fontana installed Blink IQ 200 L2 EV charging stations for their buses to use overnight and for parents, employees, and visitors to use during the day, creating a new revenue stream in the process.
Conclusion
For EV fleets to be as efficient as possible, they require an EV fleet management system like Blink Fleet Management to help them optimize routes, increase uptime, and decrease downtime. With the right mix of EV charging stations and the right management software, a fleet should see little-to-no drop in efficiency when transitioning away from internal combustion engine vehicles. To speak to a Blink fleet electrification expert today, please contact Blink Charging.