Reprinted from CTS News, November 24, 2025

Even for cities, counties, and organizations with zero-carbon emissions goals, most fleet managers are skeptical about going fully electric. Calculating the return on investment for a single vehicle is straightforward—but for a fleet, it’s complex. 

Electric vehicle (EV) fleets require a network of chargers, whether public or privately owned. They need maintenance staff with EV knowledge. And even more than vehicle cost, skepticism of the technology is a major obstacle. 

In a recent University of Minnesota (UMN) project, researchers examined the technical and human challenges related to EV fleet adoption. The work, led by CTS scholar Alireza Khani, an associate professor in the UMN’s Department of Civil, Environmental, and Geo- Engineering, and Alyssa Ryan, an assistant professor of civil and environmental engineering at the Michigan State University, could pave the way to demystifying EV adoption. 

Until now, few studies have focused on EV use in cold climates and with a mix of passenger, medium-duty, and heavy vehicles—the conditions that rural Minnesota cities and counties face. Khani and Ryan started by surveying 45 fleet managers across the state. Respondents included public works directors, city and county engineers, and operations managers from 21 entities belonging to the Minnesota Local Road Research Board, the project’s sponsor. Respondents shared data about their vehicles, trips, chargers, and EV adoption status. 

From this, Khani and Ryan developed a methodology for building out an EV network. The methodology is not a magic wand or a quick fix, they say. Rather, it’s a framework that local governments and other researchers can use to gather and analyze data. The results of the project may lead to a user-friendly online tool that allows users to plug in their data and get a detailed plan and metrics. But for now, the methodology gives local governments with good IT resources and detailed vehicle data a place to start. 

Fewer than 10 percent of vehicles on the road today are EVs. Government incentives and mandates can encourage agencies to be early adopters of new vehicle technology, but most of those are expiring at the end of 2025. Local governments can be major purchasers, so fleet managers’ experiences and attitudes can have a broad impact.

Field conditions

Only 15 percent of survey respondents had EVs in their fleets. Sixty-eight percent had never used an EV at work. They recognized the benefits of EVs, such as lower fuel costs, reduced environmental impact, and improved vehicle technology, but 42 percent of them were still negative about adding EVs to their fleets, while one-third were neutral and one-fourth were positive. All respondents had concerns that caused them to hold back on adopting EVs broadly.

“Organizations want to transition, but the pathway is unknown and complex,” Khani says.

The charging network is key to making an EV fleet work—but the public charging network is not well developed yet, especially in rural areas. One part of the solution could be for agencies to share chargers off-peak, but 23 percent of respondents opposed sharing because of the many unknowns about how it would work. In addition, electricians and other staff must be trained to install and maintain chargers, which takes time and money.

This project’s methodology reveals insights for building out a network. By comparing actual trip lengths and frequencies over 6 to 12 months, it will be possible to map charger sites and select the appropriate level of charger. Installing a network will always be a long-term, multi-stage project, Khani says, and managers should phase their build over several years, comparing outcomes against projections.

Rightsizing the fleet

The first step is to gather detailed data about vehicle miles traveled and trip length. Those numbers will reveal ways to optimize fleet size—and rightsizing the fleet is key to reducing costs, Khani says. An EV that is driven 12,000 miles per year saves the owner money versus one that only travels 8,000 miles per year. For each vehicle, there is a break-even point.

For most fleets, whole-fleet conversion is not attractive yet; the sweet spot is light-duty vehicles such as passenger cars, but the calculus is not straightforward. Depending on miles driven per year, most EV sedans are cheaper to run than internal-combustion vehicles (ICE). For medium-duty vehicles such as vans and light trucks, high up-front costs usually outweigh the fuel savings. For heavy-duty vehicles, potential cost savings are likely, but their supply is still limited.

Electricity costs fluctuate, but so do those for gasoline and diesel. Grants and subsidies are strong motivators for EV buyers. A federal rebate is set to expire at the end of 2025, so many fleet managers are taking a wait-and-see approach, Khani says. The methodology allows users to input fuel costs and subsidies. “It makes the scientific calculations to help fleet managers make smart decisions,” Khani says.

Range anxiety is real

“Agencies are key early adopters due to sustainability mandates,” Ryan says. But the survey found that many fleet drivers are reluctant to take out an EV—even for short trips with good charging infrastructure. Eighty-one percent of survey respondents said they were concerned about vehicle range, especially in cold weather. “Range anxiety is real,” she says. 

Melina Helgeson is fleet manager for the University of Minnesota. She manages 900 vehicles across the state, in both rural and urban areas. Most of these are passenger vehicles, including sedans, pickups, and minivans. Half of these are used by facilities management and many are available for staff to rent. The University has a goal to achieve net zero carbon emissions, and transportation is the third-biggest generator. Helgeson is motivated to go electric, but most of her customers haven’t embraced the technology. 

“We did try having EVs in our rental fleet seven years ago and people didn’t use them,” she says, referring to passenger vehicles. “We have made the decision to rely on hybrids because we have many renters who are going into rural areas in Michigan or Canada [for] their research work.”

When it comes to medium-duty vehicles, Helgeson says facilities management drivers were at first reluctant to take out Ford Lightning trucks because they were worried about having to recharge—even if they were only driving up to 50 miles per day around campus, which is well-equipped with Level 2 chargers. But two years later, she says drivers have gotten comfortable with electric trucks and they are well used. 

The next step to electrification is unclear. Helgeson said she would welcome a tool to demystify the decision-making process. “The transition to EVs has been difficult,” she says. “We are reducing emissions any way we can.”

—Ann Nordby, contributing writer

Related Resources

• Webinar recording: Transitioning to EV Fleets
• Transitioning to EV Fleets: Best Practices and a Decision Tool (Active)
• EV Charging Best Practices (Guidebook)
• Electric Vehicle Fee Structuring (Research Synthesis)