In an effort to ensure a seamless transition for fleet owners and operators as they electrify, EV Connect announced a new collaboration with fleet electrification services and finance company Merge Electric Fleet Solutions on May 10.

Through this relationship, EV Connect will provide Merge access to its fleet management platform to ensure equipment interoperability, understand real-world EV dynamics, and maintain uptime for its fleet customers, according to the announcement.

"At Merge, our mission is to make fleet electrification simple, affordable, and scalable by providing turn-key planning, deployment, operations, and financial services to fleet customers,” said Glen Stancil, president and CEO at Merge. "Combining our decades of EV experience with EV Connect’s robust charging management software will ensure Merge delivers a seamless charging experience to our fleet customers.“

Merge helps companies reduce emissions through fleet electrification, with its services built on a data-driven analytics platform. This helps fleets have an actionable, vehicle-level plan to achieve measurable emissions and cost goals in both pilot programs and full deployments. Merge currently works with fleet customers across market segments, including energy, healthcare, food and beverage, and home services.

"Fleet charging is a more complex, service-oriented business that involves a whole ecosystem of vendors and service providers, and collaboration is key for its ultimate success," said Jon Leicester, vice president fleet at EV Connect. "Merge has a  comprehensive, long-term electrification plan which sets fleets up for large-scale deployment and successful operations. This directly aligns with EV Connect's position as the digital connective tissue between charging stations, vehicles and telematics, and fleet management systems. We look forward to working with the Merge team as we create a seamless transition for fleet electrification."

EV Connect operates a large charging station network in North America and offers a charging network software platform that employs remote management and analytics capabilities to ensure reliable and consistent charging site operation. The EV Connect Fleet Management Platform provides a dashboard that brings together data streams from disparate systems to track a vehicle’s state of charge, ready time, and other relevant telematics data.