ZeroMission's The Future of Fleet Management Podcast - Unlocking the Future of Fleet Management for ICE and Electric Vehicles
Welcome to Plugged In, the podcast where fleet transformation gets real. Powered by ZeroMission, we explore the fast-evolving world of low and no emission transport. From battery electric to hydrogen, biofuels to blended fleets, to the demands of ESG regulations. We dive into how organisations are navigating the shift to sustainable mobility.
Each episode brings you insights from frontline fleet managers, tech experts, policy shapers, and innovators on how they’re planning, adapting, and succeeding with mixed-fuel strategies. Whether you're managing a national fleet or just starting your zero-emission journey, Plugged In delivers the practical tips, real-world stories, and bold ideas you need to stay ahead.
Smarter fleets. Cleaner air. One conversation at a time
ZeroMission's The Future of Fleet Management Podcast - Unlocking the Future of Fleet Management for ICE and Electric Vehicles
PART 1: Navigating the Future: Strategies for Fleet Transition to Zero-Emission Vehicles with CTE's Steve Clermont
In this episode of The Plugged In Podcast, host Kevin Christopher sits down with Steve Clermont, Managing Director of Planning at the Center for Transportation and the Environment (CTE), to explore how fleets can navigate the complex journey to zero-emission vehicles.
From range limitations and infrastructure planning to smart deployment strategies and technology choices, Steve shares practical insights from over 18 years in the field. Discover why starting small, collecting real-world performance data, and adapting over time is the smartest path to a scalable, sustainable fleet transition. Whether you’re just starting to plan or already deep in the process, this conversation offers a clear roadmap for making the shift to zero emissions with confidence.
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Connect with our team Alan Crowley, Kevin Christopher, Brenda Shanahan, Eduardo Espinal, Stephen Breen, Liam Nolan, Callum Hennessy Cian Kavanagh, Niamh Quinn
Navigating the Future: Strategies for Fleet Transition to Zero-Emission Vehicles
Welcome back to the podcast, everybody. My name is Kevin Christopher, I'm your host for today. You're joining us on the Plugged In Podcast where we explore strategies and stories shaping the future of fleet operation. Today, we're going to dive into the topic of fleet transition planning to zero-emission vehicles. Most of our audience is aware acutely, uh, more than ever there is a, a wealth of new information about vehicle options, but there's also the same gain and evolving regulatory requirements, incentive programs, infrastructure uncertainty, and for our customers and our audience that are trying to plan responsibly for the long-term, it- it creates a myriad of challenges, um, as it relates to putting together a plan that's both adaptable but sound for the long term.
Um, we figured it'd be a great opportunity to bring Steve Clermont, who's the Managing Director of Planning and Advisory Services at CTE, to our conversation today. Steve and I have a lot of working history together over, uh, different roles on my side in the industry, but in my opinion, Steve is one of the leading voices out there in the industry about, um, alternative fuels and how to help fleets think about the future for alternative fuels, both from a planning and budgeting standpoint, and we couldn't be happier to have Steve on the line today.
Um, Steve, for those that don't know you, would you maybe give us a quick intro and background of your experience? Sure, absolutely. And- and Kevin, thank you so much for having me on your podcast today. Not forget, my name's Steve Clermont. I've been with CTE, this is Center for Transportation and the Environment for over 18 years now. CTE is a 501nonprofit planning and engineering firm, where our mission is to help transition the US's transportation sector to zero-emission.
Now, that's quite a big objective. Uh, we do that through research, development and demonstration projects, as well as helping agencies with planning and deploying zero-emission technologies. Thank you so much, Steve. And to dive straight in, I was hoping that you might be able to expand a little bit about CTE's role in helping fleets to approach zero-emission deployments in a smart and scalable way.
Sure. Y- you know, first of all, um, planning is critical. It's essential to understand the feasibility of operating zero-emission vehicles for a specific service. We all know at this point that battery electric vehicles have range limitations. However, w- we often talk that battery electric vehicles can be easily deployed in the majority of the transit agencies' routes. And where there are routes that are not feasible, we can look at alternatives like on-route charging, mid-day charging, or even hydrogen fuel cell buses.
CTE works directly with fleet operators to plan and deploy zero-emission vehicles. We have modeling tools to assess what we expect to see from performance, and we can use these modeling tools also to assess what will be needed for charging infrastructure or hydrogen fueling infrastructure. Second, this is a marathon, not a sprint. Fleet transition does not need to happen all at once. In- incremental steps to swapping out vehicles and adding infrastructure as needed allows the agency to fully utilize the assets that they currently have and take advantage of improvements in technology over time.
We call that smart deployment. Small initial deployments of fu- vehicles, developing, collecting data, analyzing the performance, and changing your plan as a result of your full-year deployments.
