Putting electrification to work

For fleets, going green is a high priority-but making green is an even higher one.

“There is a significant uptick in the cost [for electric vehicles]. We're a for-profit business, and we need to make the bottom line work,” said Steve Saltzgiver, Group Director of Fleet Operations, Coca-Cola Refreshments, Inc., discussing his company's partnership with Smith Electric Vehicles at last month's Green Truck Summit in Indianapolis.

Coca-Cola and other large fleet operators are in the process of crunching the numbers to determine if electrified vehicles make sense in their fleets. “They are not one-size-fits-all,” Saltzgiver noted. “You want to make sure it's in the correct application…and you need to understand the [EV] limitations.”