Powered by bp pulse: Partnering with commercial EV manufacturers to support fleet customers
For entities looking to make the switch to an electric vehicle fleet, they are often faced with a myriad of new operational challenges and a complex network of vendors to work with, making the transition a headache.
Here’s a scenario we’ve seen play out over and over: A fleet — whether a transit agency, delivery company, ride-hail, or anything in between — will start their electrification journey by figuring out which vehicles are right for their operations, leading them to a vehicle manufacturer or a dealership. From there, they need to source the right type of chargers compatible with the vehicles and ensure they are spec’d correctly to support their charging needs–enter charging hardware providers. Then they will need to coordinate with their local utility on any needed power upgrades, contract with an engineering firm to handle the charging depot site design, then on to construction and permitting.
Finally, after six, 12, or sometimes 18+ months later, they will have an operational charging depot and are ready to deploy their new EVs. About a month into operating their new EVs, fleets will get an alarmingly high utility bill or they may have days where their vehicles aren’t fully charged at the start of a shift, leaving a stranded asset — every business’s worst nightmare.
The above is all too familiar, and sometimes much worse, which can ultimately impact a fleet’s total cost of ownership, leading them to turn away from electrification altogether.
After working with customers on some of the most complex EV fleet deployments in the country, bringing together all types of vendors to ensure a project’s success — from OEMs and telematics providers, to EVSE providers and EPC (engineering, procurement and construction) teams — we’ve recognized the need for deep collaborations and partnerships. As such, we’ve introduced a new offering, Powered by bp pulse.
What is Powered by bp pulse?
To simplify the customer’s experience and provide a one-stop-shop, we’re “white labeling” our core products and service offerings, and integrating them with partners in the electrification ecosystem. To begin, we’re launching Powered by bp pulse with vehicle manufacturers (OEMs), where we’re doing all of the heavy lifting upfront to integrate our omega charge management software with a vehicle’s onboard telematics, providing a turnkey solution to manage their charging operations. (Learn about charge management software in our recent blog post, here.)
In addition, we offer our design and deploy services, provided by our team of energy experts, to support an OEM’s customer through the charging infrastructure process. Our support includes charger selection and procurement, utility engagements, construction and permitting, maintenance and warranties, and more. This ensures the customer has a successful EV fleet deployment, and ultimately, is a repeat customer.
Compared to the scenario at the start of this post, with this partnership, a customer will get the large majority of their questions answered and challenges resolved, all from their initial engagement with their vehicle manufacturer or dealership.
Offering an Integrated Solution to Lightning eMotors Customers
bp pulse partnered with Lightning eMotors for the launch of Powered by bp pulse, allowing Lightning customers the ability to take delivery of their new EVs with omega already integrated with their telematics.
By offering charge management software combined with vehicle telematics at the beginning of a customer’s EV journey, bp pulse and Lightning ease the process of setting up and optimizing EV charging — ultimately saving the fleet time and money.
Learn more about how bp pulse and Lightning are working together in the press release here, and how OEMs can work with bp pulse on this new offering here.
