The transition to electric fleets in Australia isn’t being held back by technology or vehicle supply—it’s being stymied by people.
That’s one of the key insights from the latest report Electrifying Australia’s Fleets: Closing the Say-Do Gap, which highlights that while Fleet Managers are often ready to make the shift to electric vehicles (EVs), internal misalignment with other departments is slowing or halting progress altogether.
At the centre of the issue is what the report dubs the ‘Four Body Problem’—a breakdown in collaboration between the key stakeholders who now share responsibility for the fleet transition: the Fleet Manager, the ESG Manager, the Facilities Manager, and the Energy Manager.
The Disconnect That’s Holding Back Decarbonisation
The report, produced by OC&C Strategy Consultants with research from Fifth Quadrant and Carloop, explains that the traditional role of the Fleet Manager as the primary decision maker has eroded in the face of increasing complexity in EV transitions.
Electrifying a fleet now involves energy supply, depot upgrades, charging hardware, software integration, emissions reporting, and broader ESG alignment. That means new players are entering the conversation—each with different objectives, budgets, and levels of urgency.
“Fleet managers are no longer the sole or primary decision makers of vehicle strategy and procurement,” the report notes. “Rather, they are one of many stakeholders required to collaborate on the scale, pace, procurement, and management of the EV transition.”
The result is a growing coordination problem. Where fleet decisions used to be made within operational silos, the transition to electric mobility is exposing gaps in organisational structure and governance.
The Four Key Stakeholders
The ‘Four Body Problem’ refers to these distinct and often disconnected roles:
- Fleet Manager – focused on vehicle performance, operational fit, TCO, and maintenance.
- ESG Manager – accountable for emissions reductions, climate reporting, and net-zero targets.
- Facilities Manager – responsible for physical depots, upgrades, and electrical capacity.
- Energy Manager – managing power procurement, tariffs, and infrastructure capacity.
When these roles operate in silos, critical projects like installing depot chargers or specifying fit-for-purpose electric utes can stall indefinitely. Fleet Managers may see a vehicle as operationally viable, but if the Facilities Manager hasn’t scoped the electrical upgrade or the ESG Manager hasn’t included it in a sustainability roadmap, the business case fails to get traction.
Why It Matters for Fleet Decision Makers
The implications are significant for Fleet Managers trying to push electrification forward. According to the report, approximately 70% of surveyed fleet managers expect EVs to be mainstream by 2030, but over half feel only “moderately” or “not at all” prepared to manage the transition.
Worryingly, this gap between intention and execution—dubbed the “say-do gap”—is widening as more organisations set emissions targets without corresponding fleet transition plans. The result is lost time, missed opportunities for grants or trials, and growing uncertainty about how fleets will decarbonise in time to meet 2030 or 2050 targets.
Solving the Four Body Problem: A New Governance Model
To address the stakeholder disconnect, the report recommends that organisations take proactive steps to embed collaboration:
- Create a cross-functional EV steering committee – bringing together Fleet, ESG, Facilities, and Energy leaders with shared KPIs.
- Develop an EV transition strategy – with clear principles, targets, and a governance framework.
- Establish rules of engagement – clarifying who owns which parts of the decision-making process, and how trade-offs are managed.
- Pilot projects with joint ownership – starting with small-scale EV trials that give each stakeholder a role and a learning opportunity.
Fleet Managers still play a critical role—particularly in setting performance specifications and managing procurement—but success now depends on their ability to lead collaboratively across departments.
Lessons from Global Best Practice
The report cites several international examples that showcase how collaboration can enable real progress.
In the UK, UPS partnered with Moixa and UK Power Networks to electrify a fleet of 170 delivery vans at a single depot. This project required coordinated planning across fleet, energy, infrastructure and policy—demonstrating that integrated collaboration can overcome even high-cost, high-complexity barriers.
Similarly, Switzerland’s SBB.AG used telematics provider Geotab to run detailed EV suitability assessments across its national fleet. By sharing the data with internal stakeholders, it created a shared understanding of which vehicles were ready to transition—building trust and aligning decisions across departments.
Collaboration Is the First Step
The takeaway for Australian fleet stakeholders is simple: collaboration isn’t a ‘nice to have’—it’s a prerequisite for electrification.
The report concludes:
“Overcoming these disconnects can begin with the creation of EV transition policy and strategy, guiding principles and governance structures, cross-functional teams, project/pilot working groups.”
For organisations with ambitious emissions targets, solving the Four Body Problem could be the difference between delivering results—or falling further behind.
Now is the time for Fleet Managers to become conveners, not just operators—building the internal alliances needed to electrify with confidence.
