The electrification of fleets of vehicles in the US will require a great deal of charging infrastructure development. Merchants Fleet, one of the nation's largest fleet management companies, has announced a partnership with charging giant EVgo to provide a full range of solutions including infrastructure planning, hardware, software, and infrastructure deployment services to support the electrification of fleets nationwide. In April, Merchant Fleet announced that it would offer services to its clients with ChargePoint, another electric vehicle (EV) charging network.

"Charging and infrastructure is the foundation of every EV transition plan and bringing EVgo into the Merchants ecosystem allows our clients to take real, tangible steps toward making their EV plans a reality," said Brendan P. Keegan, CEO of Merchants Fleet in a news release. "This partnership gives Merchants Fleet clients access to an expanded network of best-in-class charging solutions and allows us to help push the needle forward on sustainability through fleet electrification."  

EVgo's public network is comprised of over 800 DC fast charging (DCFC) and more than 1,200 Level 2 charging locations. The company has deep coverage in urban core areas and reliability of more than 98% uptime and is backed by superior 24/7 customer support—factors that are important to the convenience, safety, and interoperability of EV fleets.

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According to the company, EVgo's fleet solutions “include a complete solution set of hardware, design, engineering, and construction of charging facilities and fleet transition planning and support including software, operations, networking, and maintenance functions and capabilities supporting holistic cost-saving and optimization for fleet operations.” 

Earlier in 2021, Merchants launched an innovative Adopt EV program, designed to help guide businesses through each step of the fleet electrification process. This includes assessing the needs of the individual fleet, to purchasing the right vehicles, to finding the right charging options and infrastructure support. Merchants has committed more than $2 billion in inventory allocation with the goal of having 50% of its mobility fleet electric by 2025 and 50% of its clients' fleet electric by 2030.

The new partnership is the first of its kind for charging company EVgo. "EVgo has been building a track record as the partner-of-choice for fleet electrification. Reliable and flexible charging will be essential to how fleets operate their business in the all-electric future," said Cathy Zoi, CEO of EVgo. "We applaud Merchants for their industry leadership and look forward to working together to streamline the fleet electrification process and build a new future for transportation."

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Kevin Clemens is a Senior Editor with Battery Technology.