The nation’s power grid faces unprecedented challenges in the coming years as demand from both data centers and electric vehicles soars. As a result, utilities are rethinking their role in meeting that demand, Bowman said.

Utilities “recognize that they need to be part of this solution, but they may not be the whole solution,” he told Walton.

The days of thinking about electricity supply in an “us or them” way are over. To ensure demand is met and grid reliability is improved, we need to develop an “us and them” mentality and combine grid power, on-site generation and energy storage, Bowman explained.

Customers are enthusiastic about electric vehicles

ELM has seen a lot of enthusiasm among fleet owners to switch to electric vehicles, Bowman told Walton. From school buses to local delivery companies to garbage trucks, fleet operators are eager to capture not only the decarbonization and sustainability benefits of electric vehicles, but also the cost savings that come from lower maintenance and operating costs.

“These fleet operators see many benefits in switching to electric vehicles,” says Bowman. However, they are limited by the lack of infrastructure for this transition.

One of the reasons for the lack of support is that the grid in its current state cannot handle the additional load on its own. As a result, connection times for electric vehicle fleets’ infrastructure can be more than a year, which in turn delays the adoption of electric vehicles.

It’s a chicken-and-egg scenario, and solving this problem requires multiple types of energy resources, Bowman said. “The real solutions come when we build things together.”

Microgrids can balance the use of grid power with on-site solar generation and energy storage to support electric vehicle charging, ultimately reducing grid strain. Working with electric vehicle chargers to dynamically optimize how much and when customers charge their vehicles is also part of the equation.

“It’s definitely a dance,” but partners, including once-hesitant utilities, are slowly beginning to align, Bowman said.

“They’re really starting to open up and have partnership conversations with the end customer. I’m not saying we’re where we all want to be yet, but it’s definitely going in the right direction,” he said.

The financial world is also on the rise

Bowman and Walton also discussed financing, another major hurdle for fleet owners looking to switch to electric vehicles.

“This market has really started to mature in terms of technology and capacity, and we are seeing the financial community slowly getting used to introducing pre-approved financing packages,” Bowman explained.

In the past, every customer project had to go through a review process. Today, “it’s no different than buying a car,” he says.