You can likely steer your fleet’s decarbonization train on your own, but a good partner can help you gain real momentum. Take a company like Navistar, which manufactures International brand trucks and IC Bus school buses, for example, which has done a ton of the legwork upfront to help you get the most mileage out of your sustainability investments. Just this past November, Navistar partnered with In-Charge Energy to provide turnkey infrastructure solutions for customers, including end-to-end charging solutions, software for charging and load management, and charging hardware and equipment.
Additionally, Navistar’s Gary Horvat, vice president of eMobility, says Navistar’s NEXT eMobility Solutions group guides customers through the entire, complex zero-emissions ecosystem, providing electrified solutions for the entire lifespan of a vehicle. The team approaches each customer with a holistic ecosystem – which Horvat calls “the 5 Cs” – to assist customers in seamlessly integrating electric vehicles into their fleets.
Horvat walks us through each step in his own words:
Consulting – “The consulting process includes evaluation of BEV (battery electric vehicles) or FCEV (fuel cell electric vehicles) requirements and efficiencies and route simulation to determine the optimal powertrain and charging mix for individual application, as well as education and assistance with all available funding sources, grants and tax incentives.”
Charging – “NEXT supports charging or refueling solutions that guarantee vehicle uptime through site planning and engineering, complete electric vehicle (EV) charging kits for both AC and DC charger installations, installation and site management, EV charging equipment certification with vehicles and infrastructure financing.”
Constructing – “Navistar’s BEVs and FCEVs are engineered and manufactured by Navistar ensuring world-class quality and reliability.”
Connecting – “Navistar’s OnCommand Connection, the industry’s leading remote diagnostics system, provides visibility to all aspects of your electric vehicle’s health, including battery life, charging status, and much more. It’s built on an open-architecture platform with the ability to support and report on information for fleets of all makes and models, both electric and diesel, in one easy-to-use system. OnCommand Connection gateway integration partnerships enable select third-party compliance and fleet management providers to offer their connected data-driven solutions to customers without the cost and complexity of installing additional hardware in the truck.”
Conserving – “Navistar is dedicated to creating sustainable solutions for our EV batteries end of life solutions that include:
- Recycling materials for use in new batteries or other applications;
- Repurposing batteries in stationary power backup solutions;
- Remanufacturing/refurbishing batteries for use in other vehicles applications.”
Decarbonization was FE’s 2021 Trend of the Year. Read about the big sustainability advancements from the past 365 here:
