Balancing the electric vehicle transition for fleets

The UK Government has committed to phasing, and electric vehicles (EVs) are at the centre of many fleet decarbonisation strategies.

The phase-out will dictate that all new cars and vans will be required to be fully zero-emission by 2035.

Organisations that are looking to transition away from internal combustion engine vehicles and towards EV adoption, must now balance speed of rollout with long-term sustainability and operational efficiency.

This places greater pressure on fleet operators and leasing companies to report on Scope 3 emissions and demonstrate genuine sustainability as stakeholders demand greater transparency and accountability across the entire supply chain.

Your EV fleet does not start its life as ‘green’

Although EV’s eliminate tailpipe emissions, the belief that they are automatically low-carbon is only partly accurate. Their environmental impact starts with the battery.

Battery production places a significant carbon burden on fleets from the outset, involving energy intensive extraction, transport and processing of globally sourced raw materials.

Meaning EVs typically enter a fleet with a higher embedded carbon footprint than ICE vehicles, primarily driven by lithium-ion battery manufacturing, which can raise production emissions by as much as 70%.

Gradually, the gap evens out. Because EVs do not rely on fossil fuels during use, they typically reach a carbon break-even point within a few years, after which they offer clear emissions advantages.

However, this early carbon ‘debt’ is becoming an important consideration as manufacturers work toward immediate net-zero targets.

The sustainability gap in the battery supply chain

As fleet electrification matures, the focus is shifting from simply increasing EV adoption to actively managing the complexity behind it – particularly the battery supply chain.

For fleet operators, this is no longer a distant upstream issue. Battery production relies on energy-intensive materials sourced through complex global networks, introducing both carbon exposure and supply risk into fleet operations.

Although recycling processes have improved in recovering high-value metals such as lithium, nickel and cobalt, significant portions of battery materials are still lost, limiting circularity and future reuse potential.

For fleets, this has direct implications for total cost of ownership and long-term asset value, as battery sourcing, durability and end-of-life handling become increasingly important considerations.

Bringing overlooked materials into focus

Automotive batteries consist of several key components, the largest proportion of which is graphite, used as the anode in most lithium-ion batteries. Despite its importance, it has historically been treated as a low-value by-product in recycling processes.

In many cases, recovered graphite is incinerated, which generates 4kg of CO2 per kg of material, or is discarded into a landfill.

This is not driven by a lack of awareness, but rather by limited economic viability. Graphite is relatively inexpensive compared to other battery materials, making the cost of recovering it through conventional methods difficult to justify.

Solving the economics, not just the chemistry

Industry leaders such as Orbia Fluor and Energy Materials are taking steps to reduce the gap. Launching a Government-funded graphite recycling pilot project in the Northwest of England.

The project uses original processing approaches that enable the recovery of graphite from battery waste before restoring it to battery-grade quality.

This initiative highlights both the environmental and economic advantages of recycled graphite compared to its virgin material counterpart.

Representing a step in the right direction for the further decarbonisation of the battery production process.

The next phase of fleet electrification

As fleets accelerate their shift to low-emission transport, expectations around what qualifies as a sustainable vehicle are broadening.

Electrification is a key step, but it is no longer the whole picture – fleet decision-makers are now being challenged to consider the environmental impact embedded in vehicle production.

Examples such as recycled graphite show how targeted material innovations can meaningfully reduce lifecycle emissions, while reinforcing the need for more resilient, UK-based battery material ecosystems.

Ultimately, for fleets, success in the transition will depend not just on adopting EVs, but on selecting vehicles backed by transparent, end-to-end sustainability metrics, ensuring environmental impact is reduced at every stage, not just on the road.

John Jaddou is global director of new business development at Orbia Fluor and Energy Materials