ZEVO™ helps to transition GHD’s vehicle fleet to net zero emissions

GHD has committed to becoming carbon neutral by 2025. Our Fleet Net Zero Optimisation study has enabled us to move closer to this goal, developing a realistic fleet transition strategy which is optimised for logistic, financial, environmental and energy efficiencies.

GHD’s Transport team in Western Australia worked in collaboration with our Asset Management Support Services (AMSS) team to develop a Zero Emissions Vehicle Optimisation strategy for our fleet of vehicles, operated on behalf of Main Roads WA. The strategy will allow us to decarbonise our current vehicle fleet and ultimately transition to zero emissions technology.

GHD leases a fleet of light duty vehicles that operate on behalf of Main Roads. The assets are a mixed fleet of AWD SUVs and Utility Trucks and operate short and long range trips covering the entire state of Western Australia, around 2.5 million sq kms. The challenge was to demonstrate the viability of Electric Vehicles (EV) and Hybrid vehicles for Main Roads requirements across the state, including in regional and remote areas.

GHD ZEVO^TM  is a comprehensive tool that looks at various optimisation points for the decarbonisation of fleets, a process which can be replicated for different fleet types and energy options. The ZEVO methodology works by considering the topography of the roads where the vehicles travel and efficiently mapping geolocation points to acquire topographical data anywhere in the world within a very short period of time. This allowed us to map WA’s entire road system and create a dataset of vehicle operations.

Service Assessment
We used GPS telematics data from every vehicle in the fleet to create a dataset of vehicle operations covering 355 days. Each vehicle operation-day was modelled within GHD ZEVOTM’s physics model that predicted the Zero Emissions Vehicle (ZEV) viability for every trip against factors such as vehicle speed, acceleration, topography, local climate and road congestion. Findings revealed that ~70% of the trips could be completed successfully by a ZEV.

Fleet Assessment
Using GHD ZEVO^TM’s statistical model we determined the operational viability of each asset within the fleet. Using data such as odometer reading, fuel efficiency, maintenance cost, carbon intensity and age, we were able to identify which assets would provide the maximum benefit if converted to an EV. We created an Australian and European database of commercially available EVs and hybrid vehicles to select the most efficient vehicle for the operations identified in the Service Assessment. A fleet attrition plan was developed which predicted the expected replacement dates for each vehicle based on its operational viability.

Scenario Based Planning
Considering the outcomes of both the Service Assessment and Fleet Assessment, we created several fleet transition scenarios, each with its corresponding environmental, energy, infrastructure, fleet, financial and utility analyses.

• The carbon model considered the carbon intensity of the Western Australian grid to provide a holistic analysis. We identified an annual carbon (CO2) offset of 11,000 kgs by adopting a mixed fleet of hybrids and EVs.
• The financial analysis provided the CAPEX and OPEX expectations for each scenario and identified opportunities for rebates, incentives, or grants through the government.
• The utility and infrastructure analysis provided predictions on the number of chargers required and the electrical energy demands.
• The energy analysis provided predictions on the amount of diesel and gasoline that could be saved, estimating an annual fuel saving of AUD84,000.

The study concluded that the ideal fleet would be a hybrid fleet of vehicles with a mix of EVs and EV-Hybrids. As a result, GHD will be working with vehicle suppliers to change over to EV and Hybrid models.