Sweat Your Assets: Maximising EV Charger Utilisation for Peak Savings

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As more fleet operators in South Africa shift toward electric trucks, one reality becomes clear early on: electric vehicles don’t just need roads — they need chargers. And not just a handful of units — enough to support real operational performance. But installing EV charging infrastructure is only the first step. Making it work for you — financially and operationally — is where the real value lies.

At Aeversa, we call it sweating your assets.

What Does “Sweating Your EV Assets” Really Mean?

The phrase comes from traditional asset management: the idea that you should extract the maximum possible value from the equipment you’ve invested in. And when it comes to electric vehicle charging stations, this couldn’t be more relevant.

A charger creates value when it’s used optimally — that is, when it's supporting a fleet of EVs that are actively generating returns. If a charger is idle because the vehicles are out on the road doing what they should be doing, that’s not inefficiency — that’s alignment. Sweating your EV assets means keeping your vehicles productive, and in turn, creating opportunities for your chargers to work harder too.

And when a fleet operator is ready to scale up and add more EVs, Aeversa doesn’t default to recommending new chargers. Instead, we assess the utilisation of the existing infrastructure. If smart scheduling, coordination and load management can enable those new vehicles to charge efficiently using what's already installed — we prioritise that first. It’s a client-first approach, designed to maximise ROI and minimise unnecessary capital expenditure.

Because every hour a charger stands still unnecessarily is an hour delayed in delivering returns — but every hour it’s working in tandem with a well-utilised fleet is value realised.

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Why Ticking the ESG Box Isn’t Enough

In our blog post “Beyond the Checkbox: Turn ESG Compliance into Real EV Fleet Savings”, we discussed how many businesses have started adopting EVs and installing chargers to meet ESG targets or demonstrate a public commitment to sustainability. But too often, these investments stop at the symbolic level.

The infrastructure gets installed. The electric vehicles are added to the fleet. But the chargers don’t get used consistently, and the EVs remain under-deployed.

The result? Fleets that appear future-ready on paper but never realise the operational or financial benefits of electrification.

Sweating your EV assets means moving beyond optics. It’s about making your charging infrastructure and electric vehicles work harder — turning ESG compliance into meaningful operational wins, and unlocking the cost savings and performance improvements that electrification truly promises.

A Real-World Example: Underutilised vs. Optimised EV Chargers

Let’s bring the concept down to earth with a real-world comparison.

A logistics company installs two 60kW DC fast chargers at a Gauteng depot to support its electric fleet. Each charger costs around R420,000 installed — a significant investment, but one that should pay off through fuel savings and lower operational costs.

The outcome, however, depends entirely on how well those chargers are used:

Scenario	Underutilised	Optimised (Sweating the Asset)
Utilisation rate	±8%	±33%
Charging sessions/month (2 chargers)	48	192
Energy delivered/month	2,880 kWh	11,520 kWh
Cost per kWh (incl. capex)	R5.85	R2.45
Cost per km (at 0.20 kWh/km)	R1.17	R0.49
Total EV km enabled/year	172,800 km	691,200 km
Estimated fuel savings vs. diesel	±R177,000	±R1.18 million
ROI on infrastructure	6–7 years	~3 years

By simply increasing the number of charge sessions per day and aligning usage with off-peak tariffs and solar energy production, the optimised scenario cuts cost per km by over 50% and accelerates ROI dramatically — all without installing a single extra charger.

That’s the power of sweating your infrastructure.

It’s Not Just About Energy. It’s About Efficiency.

Let’s take a step back. You’ve committed to electric trucks because you want a lower total cost of ownership (TCO), cleaner energy use, and long-term fuel savings. But charging infrastructure — and how you manage it — plays a critical role in that equation. If it’s underutilised, your TCO model can unravel.

Charging stations should serve multiple vehicles per day where possible, integrate with your telematics to plan optimal downtime windows, and align with your energy strategy (whether it’s solar, off-peak grid use, or both). When they don’t, the costs compound: higher per-kilometre charging costs, avoidable grid demand charges, and increased complexity without increased output.

Sweating your charging infrastructure is sweating your fleet economics.

From Expense to Advantage

The good news? Optimising utilisation doesn’t require doubling your infrastructure or redesigning your depot. It often comes down to a few key shifts:

• Smarter scheduling: Ensuring chargers are in use during fleet downtimes, not peak tariff hours.

• Driver coordination: Aligning return times, routes, and top-up strategies to reduce congestion or idle chargers.

• Load management software: Using the right tools to spread usage evenly, preventing overload and underuse.

• Visibility: Tracking charger analytics to identify patterns, bottlenecks, and underuse zones.

  
  

These strategies turn chargers from static installations into high-performing, high-value fleet assets.

The Bottom Line

In the world of electric fleets, charging infrastructure isn’t just another line item — it’s the backbone of your operational reliability and cost efficiency.

If your chargers aren’t being used effectively, you’re not just losing energy efficiency — you’re losing business efficiency. You’re delaying ROI. You’re over-capitalising on future capacity while underutilising what you already have.

The smartest fleets aren’t the ones with the most chargers. They’re the ones getting the most out of every charger they own.

Looking to sweat your EV assets more effectively?Aeversa helps South African fleets unlock the full value of their charging infrastructure — from charger audits and utilisation assessments to smarter scheduling, software integration, and energy pairing.

Book a Free Charging Consultation →

Written By:

John Henry Ford Sales Manager AEVERSA

Author Bio: John is the Sales Manager at Aeversa, where he specialises in fleet electrification and sustainable energy solutions. With a strong background in the EVSE and automotive industries, John has led initiatives that integrate electric vehicle charging infrastructure with renewable energy sources, such as solar power and battery storage. His work focuses on enhancing operational efficiency and reducing costs for logistics and distribution fleets. John is passionate about advancing clean transportation technologies and has been instrumental in projects that demonstrate the practical benefits of fleet electrification in South Africa.