How to Reduce Fleet EV Charging Costs: Why Paua Built Cost Saving Analysis

You Can't Reduce What You Can't See: Why We Built Paua's Cost Saving Analysis

Knowing what your fleet spends on EV charging is one thing. Knowing what you could have saved is something entirely different.

As more businesses transition to electric vehicles, managing charging costs is becoming an increasingly important part of fleet management.

Unlike petrol and diesel, where prices between filling stations tend to be relatively similar, public EV charging prices can vary significantly, sometimes between chargers less than a mile apart.

And when you're managing tens, hundreds or even thousands of vehicles, those differences quickly add up.

At Paua, we kept coming back to one question:

What if we could show fleet managers not just what they'd spent on charging, but what they could have saved?

That's why we built our Cost Saving Analysis.

Fleet managers can reduce public EV charging costs by identifying where drivers could have used cheaper, suitable charging locations. Paua PRO's Cost Saving Analysis uses charging transaction data to highlight these opportunities, helping businesses make better decisions about where their vehicles charge.

The problem wasn't a lack of data. It was knowing what to do with it.

Most fleet managers can tell you how much their business spent on EV charging last month.

They can see transactions, download reports, check invoices and identify which drivers are spending the most.

But that information only tells part of the story.

Imagine a driver stops to charge at 85p per kWh. They need 50kWh, so that session costs £42.50.

What they might not realise is that another suitable charger, less than a mile away, could have offered the same energy at 65p per kWh.

That's a £10 difference on one charging session.

Now imagine that happening regularly across an entire fleet.

The challenge is that fleet managers don't necessarily know these opportunities exist. And drivers, quite understandably, aren't always comparing prices when they're trying to get to their next job, meeting or delivery.

We didn't think the answer was to give fleet managers another spreadsheet to analyse.

We thought the technology should do the hard work for them.

How Paua PRO's Cost Saving Analysis works

Paua's Cost Saving Analysis, available through Paua PRO, looks at where drivers have charged and identifies cheaper charging alternatives within one mile of their charging sessions.

But price isn't the only consideration.

We also look at charger speed and vehicle suitability, because suggesting a cheaper charger is pointless if it isn't suitable for the vehicle or the driver's needs. Charger availability is another important consideration when deciding where to charge.

It's about identifying realistic opportunities to save money, not simply finding the lowest price.

Rather than just reporting what a business has spent, our analysis highlights where charging costs could potentially have been lower.

That gives fleet managers something far more useful than another transaction report.

It gives them information they can actually act on.

They can see where drivers are regularly using more expensive chargers, understand the potential savings and identify where better guidance or charging policies could make a difference.

This isn't about telling drivers they've done something wrong

We know that choosing where to charge isn't always straightforward.

A driver might need a rapid charger because they're running behind schedule. They might have a large vehicle that can't access every charging location. Or they might simply need somewhere safe and convenient to stop.

The cheapest charger isn't always the right charger.

That's something we understand at Paua.

We didn't build Cost Saving Analysis to criticise drivers or expect them to spend their working day searching for the lowest tariff.

We built it to help businesses identify patterns, understand their options and make better decisions.

If a driver regularly charges at an expensive location when a suitable, cheaper alternative is nearby, that's an opportunity for a conversation.

Perhaps they didn't know the other charger existed. Perhaps their route could be adjusted slightly. Or perhaps there was a perfectly good reason for their choice.

Either way, the fleet manager now has the information to understand it.

How much can fleets save on public EV charging?

And the results speak for themselves.

Since introducing Cost Saving Analysis, customers acting on these insights have achieved savings of around 7.5% on public EV charging costs.

That's a meaningful saving, particularly as fleets grow.

For a business spending £100,000 annually on public charging, a 7.5% reduction would equate to £7,500 saved every year.

And those savings don't require a business to change its vehicles, install new infrastructure or negotiate a new charging contract.

They come from something much simpler: understanding existing charging behaviour and making more informed decisions.

It's exactly what we wanted the technology to achieve.

Why fleet EV charging cost management matters as fleets grow

Managing charging costs for five electric vehicles is one thing.

Managing them for 50, 500 or 5,000 is quite another.

As businesses electrify more of their fleets, small inefficiencies can become significant expenses.

And while access to a large public charging network is essential, we believe businesses should also have the tools to use that network intelligently.

That's why we've built Cost Saving Analysis into Paua PRO, alongside charging controls, alerts, exception reporting and detailed fleet data.

Because access to charging is only one part of managing an electric fleet.

Understanding and controlling the cost is just as important.

We built it because our customers needed more than another report

At Paua, we're fortunate to develop our technology in-house.

That means when we identify a genuine problem facing fleet managers, we can focus on building something that addresses it.

Cost Saving Analysis is a good example of that approach.

We didn't want to create another dashboard full of numbers that someone has to spend hours interpreting.

We wanted to help fleet managers answer a much simpler question:

"Are we spending more than we need to on EV charging, and what can we do about it?"

Because knowing what you've spent is useful.

Knowing what you could save is better.

And that's why we built it.

Frequently asked questions about reducing fleet EV charging costs

How can businesses reduce public EV charging costs?

Businesses can reduce public EV charging costs by comparing charging tariffs, identifying suitable lower-cost charging locations and using fleet charging data to improve driver guidance and charging policies. The right charging location must also meet the driver's operational needs.

What is Paua's Cost Saving Analysis?

Paua's Cost Saving Analysis is a feature of Paua PRO that reviews fleet charging transactions and identifies cheaper, suitable charging alternatives within one mile of previous charging sessions. It helps fleet managers identify potential savings and make informed decisions about charging behaviour.

How much can a business save using Paua PRO?

Customers acting on Paua's Cost Saving Analysis insights have achieved savings of around 7.5% on public EV charging costs. Actual savings depend on charging patterns, available alternatives and the decisions made by fleet managers and drivers.

Discover how Paua PRO helps businesses take control of their EV charging costs.

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