Enterprise fleet management's EV suitability assessment: $167M in fleet electrification savings

Enterprise Fleet Management Open in new windowpartnered with Geotab to conduct one of the largest fleet EV Suitability Assessments (EVSA) ever completed, analyzing 91,252 leased vehicles across 50+ markets in North America. Rather than relying on industry projections or general benchmarks, the study was built entirely on real-world telematics data and actual fleet operating costs: depreciation, fuel, acquisition, and after-market expenses. 

The results showed that 13% of Enterprise Fleet Management's fleet was economically ready for electric vehicle (EV) transition, representing $33 million in potential savings and 194,000 tons of tailpipe CO2 avoided over four years. The more significant finding, however, is what happens when electric pickup trucks become available: the eligible portion of the fleet jumped to 45%, unlocking $167 million in total cost savings and 1.3 million tons of emission reductions across the same 4-year window.

Fleet electrification challenge

Enterprise Fleet Management manages more than 649,000 vehicles across 50+ local markets in North America, partnering with companies, government agencies, and organizations that operate medium-sized fleets of 20 or more vehicles. Their business model depends on knowing not just what vehicles a customer needs, but what their fleet will look like in two, three, and five years, and whether an EV transition is financially viable in that window. 

The challenge was compounded by the nature of their portfolio. Enterprise Fleet Management's fleet skews heavily toward medium-duty work trucks and pickups, the vehicle categories where commercial EV options were least available at the time of the study. Generic industry forecasts could not answer the question their customers were actually asking: is it financially smart to electrify now, and if not, when?

"Our goal with this study was to map out what we need to know and what we need to provide our customers now and in the near future so we can continue to be the best fleet management provider possible." — Dain Giesie, Assistant Vice President, Enterprise Fleet Management

Largest EV suitability assessment

Together, Geotab and Enterprise Fleet Management built an EVSA covering 91,252 vehicles, a scale never previously attempted for a fleet electrification study. Geotab aggregated telematics analytics showing exactly how each vehicle in the portfolio was being used day-to-day. Enterprise Fleet Management layered in operational reality: depreciation rates, fuel costs, vehicle acquisition prices, and after-market expense data. Together, they produced a suitability assessment grounded in how fleets actually operate, not how analysts assume they do.

"Working together, we started to better understand the big data capabilities Geotab has. We realized that if we could combine Geotab's analytics with Enterprise Fleet Management's real-world data on a large scale, we could develop a unique perspective on how we expect our fleet to evolve in the coming years." — Chris Haffenreffer, Assistant Vice President of Innovation, Enterprise Holdings

"This wasn't just a study on vehicle availability today versus tomorrow. We contributed real-world experience that informed data inputs for depreciation, fuel costs, vehicle costs, after-market costs and more to give us a deeper perspective into our customers' potential future needs." — Dain Giesie, Assistant Vice President, Enterprise Fleet Management

What is Geotab's EV Suitability Assessment?

The EV Suitability Assessment (EVSA) is a Geotab-built analytics tool that uses real-world telematics data to identify which vehicles in a fleet are economically and operationally ready for electrification, replacing assumptions with per-vehicle analysis of actual usage, routes, and total cost of ownership (TCO).

The methodology was designed specifically to eliminate assumptions. "Having accurate, real-world data from the fleet helps us reduce as many assumptions as we can for our analysis and projections," explains Hani Hawari, Senior EV Product Manager at Geotab.

EVSA results empowered fleet electrification decisions

Electrification potential 

Of the 91,252 vehicles analyzed, 13% (approximately 12,000) were strong economic candidates for EV replacement under current market conditions. Transitioning those vehicles would generate:

• $33 million in total cost savings
• 194,000 tons of tailpipe CO2 eliminated over a 4-year service life

For a fleet manager, that is a clear, actionable signal: a meaningful portion of the portfolio is financially ready to convert now, without waiting for the broader EV market to mature.

The electric pickup inflection point

The study's most significant finding emerged from the near-future scenario. When electric pickup trucks become commercially available, the share of the Enterprise Fleet Management portfolio eligible for electrification jumped from 13% to 45%, roughly 42,000 vehicles. At that scale:

• Cost savings reach $167 million, or $4,056.20 per vehicle
• Tailpipe emission reductions total 1.3 million tons over 4 years

That inflection point changes the entire strategic rationale. Electric pickups are not a marginal addition to the EV market; they are the catalyst that makes large-scale commercial fleet electrification economically viable for Enterprise Fleet Management's customer base.

"When we start to see numbers like that, and where that inflection is, we get a sense of what we need to plan for today versus what to plan for two years from now. It gives us a lot of good data to inform our strategy and ultimately simplify what was a relatively complex situation we are navigating." — Chris Haffenreffer, Assistant Vice President of Innovation, Enterprise Holdings

Customer EV strategy backed by real fleet data

Armed with EVSA findings, Enterprise Fleet Management's 50+ local account teams across North America could deliver specific, data-driven EV recommendations to each customer, not general industry guidance, but analysis built from that customer's actual fleet utilization patterns and total cost of ownership. 

The study also gave Enterprise Fleet Management a strategic route: a concrete understanding of which decisions need to be made now versus which can be deferred until the electric pickup market matures. That timeline is the foundation of their EV planning roadmap.

"The study highlighted the opportunities and needs of our customers for us, so we could keep our strategic planning process on track and continue to be a fleet management leader for those we serve. We are absolutely committed to fulfilling our mission to provide our customers with the best possible information to make the best decisions for their businesses." — Dain Giesie, Assistant Vice President, Enterprise Fleet Management

Annual fleet reassessment with real-world data

A single EVSA is a starting point, not a destination. Enterprise Fleet Management reevaluates each customer's fleet annually, factoring in macroeconomic changes, market fluctuations, and shifts in vehicle availability. Geotab's EVSA tool powers that ongoing process, giving account managers current, data-grounded answers to fleet cost questions rather than estimates built on outdated assumptions.

"The market and macroeconomic factors change. And, you've got to have an expert like Geotab that can help you with that every year, or you're going to miss an opportunity." — Dain Giesie, Assistant Vice President, Enterprise Fleet Management

The goal is not to reach a final answer about EVs. It is to ensure each customer has the right vehicles — and the right number of them — every year, as conditions evolve.

"As more vehicles become connected, and more reliable information is gathered, this type of study can only get better. We're not in the business of guessing how things will impact our fleet. We want to use real-world data to help our customers any way we can." — Dain Giesie, Assistant Vice President, Enterprise Fleet Management

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