Battery electric vehicle acquisition timeframes in Canadian fleets

Investigating the acquisition timeframe of battery-electric vehicles (BEVs) could help identify the conditions needed to entice fleet operating entities (FOEs) to lean towards early fleet electrification. This paper addresses this issue by estimating ordered logit models with data collected from an online survey. The results suggest differences in the acquisition timeframes of government and corporate FOEs. In general, corporate FOEs tend to have a shorter acquisition timeframe. The significant factors for a shorter acquisition timeframe include the size and location of the FOEs, availability of on-site charging infrastructure, and existence of regulatory imperatives in fleet procurement. The propensity of a shorter acquisition timeframe for car fleets is higher for FOEs with an economically driven attitude. Similarly, the acquisition of utility fleets is shorter for government FOEs with economically driven attitudes and corporate FOEs with early adopter attitudes. Likewise, the acquisition of pickup truck fleets is shorter for corporate FOEs with obligatory attitudes.