The 2026 Global Fleet and Mobility Barometer marks a definitive end to the era of “EV curiosity.” Released by Element Fleet Management, the largest publicly-traded fleet manager in the world, the report draws on data from 10,000 fleet leaders across 33 countries to highlight a critical transition from high-level strategy to operational execution.
With 66% of companies now committed to deploying EVs within the next three years, the focus has shifted from why to how. Fleet managers are now grappling with the technical complexities of charging infrastructure and the financial pressures of Total Cost of Ownership (TCO). As regulatory uncertainty persists, organizations are increasingly turning to data-driven tools to maintain financial discipline and ensure vehicle uptime.
To explore these shifts, EV Charging Magazine spoke with Avninder Buttar, SVP and Head of Electrification at Element Fleet Management. Buttar breaks down the move toward “pavement-ready” policies and explains why successful execution in 2026 requires a “control tower” approach to fleet data.
EV Charging Magazine: Closing the Infrastructure Gap: 99% of companies have charging policies, yet 68% cite infrastructure as the top EV barrier. What’s the single most effective way for fleet managers to close this “policy-to-pavement” gap?
Avninder Buttar: The single most effective way to move past ‘charging as a policy’ and start to deploy at scale is to design deployments that operationally make sense, using route, dwell-time, and charging data to prioritize tranches of vehicles. Element and Arval’s Global Fleet and Mobility Barometer highlights a contradiction – 99% of companies already have or plan at least one charging policy, but 68% of passenger-car fleets and 67% of LCV (Light Commercial Vehicle) fleets are still calling out charging constraints as a major hurdle. So, the highest-value action for fleet managers is to ensure that their fleet policies match the needs of their fleet (depot, home, public or a combination) and begin scaled testing to ensure that driver expectations are met. This includes everything from understanding dwell times, to knowing which public charging infrastructure is best positioned for driving distances. Utility readiness and reimbursement processes for home energy are key to ensure that home-based drivers are bought into the program. These also align with the IEA’s (International Energy Agency) global view that home and private charging remains the main charging mode, but mass EV adoption still depends on better public access for drivers without home charging.
EV Charging Magazine: Shift to Operational Execution: The report shows a move from “scalable solutions” to “operational execution.” What does successful execution look like in 2026 versus past pilots?
Avninder Buttar: In 2026, successful execution is not just talking about pilots. It is the ability to deploy at scale for the use cases where electrification already makes sense from an operating and TCO (Total Cost of Ownership) perspective. Ensuring confidence in the program means that vehicles need to leave on time (with the required charge), chargers are operational and meet up-time requirements, drivers get reimbursed correctly, and TCO stays inside target bands. Element’s March 2026 release explicitly frames the market shift as moving beyond EV ambition toward disciplined execution, with greater emphasis on cost control, operational performance, and data-driven decision-making. This sentiment is echoed by other organizational findings, as an example, McKinsey describes the same progression: pilot first, then define the real execution. The Barometer reinforces that this is now an operating-model question, not a strategy-slide question: 44% of fleet managers want help with fleet performance management, 18% call out predictive maintenance, and 17% want real-time tracking and monitoring – these requests extend now to both vehicles and chargers.
EV Charging Magazine: Managing the TCO Challenge: 31% of fleet leaders rank TCO as their top issue. How can data-driven tools ensure financial discipline amid regulatory uncertainty?
Avninder Buttar: Data-driven tools matter most when they act as an action-oriented “control tower” and not just a reporting dashboard. That means segmenting fleets and updating whole-life cost assumptions as regulations and market change. Telemetry is an invaluable resource to validate vehicle/driver fit, monitoring energy usage from the vehicle and chargers, and adjusting replacement or remarketing timing when residual-value assumptions move. The Barometer shows why this matters: 31% rank TCO as a top fleet challenge globally, and the pressure is even stronger in North America (45%) and APAC (40%). McKinsey also validates that the key TCO levers are depreciation/residual value, fueling, maintenance, and charging infrastructure, and are aligned that data-driven residual-value management is critical when regulation, competition, and technology shifts make EV depreciation harder to predict. Bloomberg adds that battery pack prices are still falling, but affordability of both vehicles and charging remains critical, so falling battery costs alone will not remove the need for financial management and chargers need to be factored into the equation, especially when so much of charging will happen in a private setting.
EV Charging Magazine: Future of Mobility Solutions: 94% of companies now use at least one employee mobility solution. How should firms balance traditional fleets with flexible mobility budgets?
Avninder Buttar: Organizations should not think “fleet or mobility budget.” They should think about both as part of a portfolio. Keeping traditional assigned fleets where roles require a dedicated asset (high mileage, branded service, tools/equipment, duty-cycle predictability, emergency response, etc.) continues to make sense. Other mobility solutions are potential options for lower-mileage, urban, hybrid-work, recruiting-oriented, or regulation-exposed employee groups. The Barometer shows this is already happening: 94% of companies now use or plan at least one mobility policy or solution; mobility budgets are at 30%, car sharing at 26%, and ride sharing/carpooling at 29%. It also shows that the rationale varies by region. Market maturity of mobility solutions, geography and other factors will continue to dictate how these solutions fit together with traditional fleet dynamics.
EV Charging Magazine: Predictive Maintenance & Performance: Fleet leaders want predictive maintenance for better visibility. How is Element using real-time telematics for proactive management?
Avninder Buttar: Element is leveraging telematics as a foundational layer for more proactive fleet management. Today, connected vehicle data—such as engine health, safety insights, and odometer readings—enables greater visibility across fleets and supports more informed, timely maintenance decisions. This allows service events to be better planned and aligned with actual vehicle usage and condition, helping reduce unplanned downtime and improve overall fleet performance.
Building on this foundation, Element is actively exploring how advanced analytics and AI can further enhance maintenance strategies. By analyzing real-time and historical vehicle data, emerging capabilities can help identify patterns and flag potential issues earlier—creating opportunities to address concerns before they escalate into more disruptive events. This represents a shift from purely reactive repair toward increasingly condition-based and predictive approaches over time. In parallel, telematics-driven insights continue to simplify fleet-wide reporting and compliance, giving operators clearer visibility into vehicle health and maintenance trends across their operations. This direction aligns with broader market momentum. While only a portion of fleets currently leverage telematics data fully, demand is growing—particularly around predictive maintenance and real-time visibility. Industry perspectives, including McKinsey, reinforce that the true value of telematics is realized as organizations increasingly use data to anticipate failures, optimize maintenance intervals, and improve long-term fleet reliability.
EV Charging Magazine: Addressing Regional Disparities: The report notes stark EV adoption gaps between mature and emerging markets. How does Element help global firms standardize across regions?
Avninder Buttar: The reality for global companies is that there is not going to be a one-sized fits all solution, so they have to right-size their plans for the markets but still maintain standardized governance so the programs are still controlled. The way that we support this is through having a global EV team responsible for strategy, product, partner and program management so clients have consistent engagement. We also support this through the Element-Arval Global Alliance, which allows us to support clients across shared countries with localized support, strategic consulting, unified tools, harmonized policies, and global reporting. That matters because the Barometer shows very uneven EV maturity: Europe leads passenger-car electrification with 57% already using electrified technologies, North America is at 50%, APAC is split between advanced and less mature markets, and LATAM remains the least mature at 14%. This standardization layer allows us to support clients develop common policies, KPIs, supplier governance, data definitions, and decision rights; with the localized layer focusing on vehicle mix, charging plan, tax treatment, supply timing, and financing structure. In other words, global consistency should sit in the control system, while regional flexibility sits in the operating model – Element supports across all these items.
EV Charging Magazine: Rise of Operational Leasing: 37% plan to increase full-service leasing. How does this shift help managers handle EV tech and battery depreciation risks?
Avninder Buttar: The Barometer report points out that there are major regional differences in operational lease uptake, and full-service leasing is not necessarily a common offering in all markets. Where it does exist at scale the shift can help by moving more of the technology refresh, maintenance, uptime, and residual value components to a specialist partner. Industry market research highlights that residual value management is a critical success factor, and EV depreciation is challenging to forecast given that the technology disruption and change is faster, and as such the used-EV market is still maturing.
One way to offset these complexities is to shift from “product” to “solution,” by bundling services such as financing, insurance, and charging in order to reduce uptime and residual value risk – which is an approach that can apply as a managed service model in regions where full-service leasing is not an option. In practice, this can result in different financing options which then encompass maintenance management, telematics, full service charging support, remarketing, and lifecycle consulting. With respect to EV batteries, although the technology continues to evolve, modern batteries can have considerable life if they are monitored and managed correctly. This once again highlights the importance of telematics and why it is critical to think about the transition to EVs as not just a theoretical exercise, but rather a data-driven strategic imperative.
The Future of Fleet Electrification and Charging
As the Global Fleet and Mobility Barometer 2026 illustrates, the transition to clean energy infrastructure is no longer a matter of theory, but of rigorous application. The move toward a “control tower” approach—using real-time telematics and disciplined TCO management—is becoming the baseline for success in a volatile market.
For global firms, the challenge lies in balancing the “control system” of standardized governance with the “operating model” of regional flexibility. As battery prices fall and fast charging tech matures, the fleets that successfully navigate this operational pivot will be those that view electrification not just as a sustainability goal, but as a data-driven strategic imperative.
