Future Fleet - Integrating Electric Cars in Company Vehicle Fleets

In Future Fleet, electric cars have been tested in the company fleets of SAP AG and MVV Energie AG. The users have been continously interviewed.

Research approach

Future Fleet is all about integrating electric cars in corporate fleets, examining the benefit for the environment and ascertaining acceptance amongst users. The vehicles in this pilot project all run solely on renewable energy.

User surveys

In Future Fleet ISOE, in collaboration with Öko-Institut and the University of Mannheim, interviewed users of the electric cars on their day-to-day experiences and their travel behaviour. The focus here was on practical issues such as performance, operation, or practicability of the recharging process. Another area under scrutiny was whether the vehicles in the fleet can be just as easily integrated in everyday routines as conventional cars. The team also asked about the image and symbolic aspects of using electric cars.

Background

Crucial to the success of electromobility is that users make an active attempt to get to grips with the vehicles and the partly new usage concept. Simple handling is a must here, while emotional, symbolic and image aspects are equally important. It is precisely these latter areas that were examined in standardised and qualitative surveys: for instance, what is fun for users and what annoys or bothers them? It is also interesting to see how their social environment reacts, and whether having and using the vehicles can adequately express a personal lifestyle. On the one hand, the results will be used to improve the technical infrastructure, recharging system and vehicles themselves, and to adapt them to user needs. On the other hand, conclusions will be drawn for other big companies as to the opportunities available there for electromobility and joint fleets.

The Future Fleet project is one of eight regional pilot projects in the federal support programme Information and Communication Technologies for Electric Mobility.

Project partners

SAP-AG (lead)
MVV-Energie AG
Hochschule Mannheim
Öko-Institut