Ten years ago, there were many doubts about the motor vehicle industry’s electrification process. Major manufacturers made it clear they thought the idea could never work. However, fast forward to 2022 and that is no longer the case.
Tesla delivered 936k vehicles around the world in 2021, an 87% increase from 2020, Ford’s F-150 Lightning received over 200,000 pre-orders, the Biden administration announced 500,000 new EV charging stations and tax rebates for electric vehicles, two startups – Rivian and Lucid – started shipping luxury EVs to customers, and expectations and excitement for the year ahead are growing across the sector. Some experts believe 100% of all new cars will be electric by 2040, which could mean the end of the road for the internal combustion engine vehicle.
This electrification has happened primarily in the passenger car segment; however, the positive environmental impact from electrifying commercial fleets and school buses would be significant. The United States has roughly 500,000 school buses, which make up 80% of all buses in use nationwide. However, less than 1% run on electric power. Electrifying the entire fleet of US school buses would reduce greenhouse gas emissions by approximately 8 megatons per year. In January 2021, President Biden signed an executive order to electrify the federal government’s fleet of 645,000 vehicles. The state of California is requiring all light-duty vehicles to be 100% zero emissions by 2035 and all new sales of medium- and heavy-duty vehicles to be zero emissions by 2040. Additionally, a study found that if the US postal service was successful in electrifying 99% of its fleet it could see $2.9 billion in savings of the course of the vehicles’ lives.
The next decade will require enormous capital investment to electrify vehicles on the road. Capital will need to be deployed to manufacture the cars, buses, and trucks needed for this transformation. Charging infrastructure installations will need to be upgraded and utilities will need to make grid modifications to support this expansion. The key metrics for a successful fleet electrification include total cost of ownership and cost-per-mile.
FTI Consulting has deep expertise ranging from battery electric vehicles, hydrogen fuel cell vehicles and ride sharing, to fleet electrification and autonomous drive. We are well equipped to work with companies in every stage of development. Our team supports clients across the value chain providing a wide array of advisory services addressing the strategic, financial, operational, technical, reputational, regulatory, and capital needs of E-Mobility companies. We maximize value for our clients by combining FTI’s global footprint and E-Mobility expertise with our extensive industry contacts. FTI will leverage our collective knowledge and experience to ensure our clients have access to the best resources, capital and experts to ensure they achieve their goals.
A sample of the breadth of our service offerings in the E-Mobility space is represented by the following:
EV fleets including Medium to Heavy Duty Vehicles: FTI’s experts have wide-ranging knowledge and understand the significant opportunities in road freight transportation; focusing on the total cost of ownership and cost-per-mile.
Charging infrastructure: FTI’s experts have built an in-house machine learning simulator to assist companies in successfully choosing optimal location and power installing charging infrastructure. In addition, our experts have successfully served as interim C-suite executives at electric vehicle charging companies.
Battery Technology: FTI’s experts have strong expertise across the entire value chain, with a focus on batteries, including technical and operational due diligence, assessment of market opportunities, battery chemistry assessments, and manufacturing.
Supply Chain and Raw Materials: Industries have varied responses to the current supply chain disruptions and E-mobility is one that has been heavily affected. These disruptions are likely to continue as the global demand for sustainable transportation increases. FTI’s experts can assist in navigating this challenge.
Public Funding: FTI can leverage our robust worldwide network to ensure all our clients have access to the best funding options for their unique projects. FTI will leverage our deep industry knowledge and regulatory understanding to assist our clients in implementing their projects and raising capital. Our experts have knowledge and practical experience in obtaining all loans and grants available, ensuring our clients can capture the full value of their projects. Autonomous Vehicles and Freight: Autonomous vehicles still face a mountain of hurdles before widespread adoption and economic scalability. FTI’s experts have extensive knowledge across the evolving autonomous, connected, shared, and electrified technologies, and in enabling clients to implement new strategies to tackle changing market conditions.