{"id":4011,"date":"2026-06-23T11:24:04","date_gmt":"2026-06-23T09:24:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nextmobility.be\/post\/dimensionner-batterie-flotte-electrique\/"},"modified":"2026-06-23T11:31:04","modified_gmt":"2026-06-23T09:31:04","slug":"sizing-electric-fleet-battery","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nextmobility.be\/en\/post\/sizing-electric-fleet-battery\/","title":{"rendered":"Electric fleet: the right battery is almost never the biggest"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Eighteen point five kilometres. That’s the average distance between a Belgian worker and their workplace, or about 39 kilometres round trip per day. On that score, we’re European champions (SD Worx, 2025, based on Belgian FPS Mobility data).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Keep that figure in mind, because it changes everything. A daily commute of 39 kilometres is less than 200 kilometres over a five-day week. Any electric car on the market today, even with a modest battery, covers that without charging mid-week. And yet, at order time, we look at something else entirely: maximum range. We choose our vehicle for the holiday departure, or for that one part we fetch across the country once a quarter. Almost never for what we do every day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That’s a sizing mistake. And it costs money, in several ways. Here are the numbers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The right criterion is daily use<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The question isn’t “how far can this vehicle go,” but “what do I actually do, every day, and can I charge between two days.” For the vast majority of drivers, the answer comes down to two facts: short trips, and the ability to charge overnight or during the workday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our own data confirm it. In our analysis of commuting in Belgium<\/a>, the daily reality of the Belgian commuter is made of limited, repetitive distances, far below the range vehicles are sized for. Once you can plug the vehicle in while it sits idle, range stops being the issue. A mid-size battery, recharged while the vehicle isn’t in use, covers real-world use with a comfortable margin. Long range only serves the exception. And that exception, as we’ll see, you pay for the rest of the year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For the same model, a big battery improves almost nothing but range<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The best way to show this is to compare one model in two versions, changing only the battery. Every other variable (size, drivetrain, equipment) stays the same. Real-world range and consumption from EV Database, Belgian list prices from Moniteur Automobile.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Model (same version)<\/th>Battery<\/th>Real-world range<\/th>Consumption<\/th>Charging at 11 kW<\/th>Price (incl. VAT)<\/th><\/tr><\/thead>
Tesla Model 3 RWD<\/td>57 kWh<\/td>~420 km<\/td>136 Wh\/km<\/td>~5 h<\/td>\u20ac35,990<\/td><\/tr>
Tesla Model 3 Long Range (RWD)<\/td>75 kWh<\/td>~530 km<\/td>~140 Wh\/km<\/td>~7 h<\/td>\u20ac44,990<\/td><\/tr>
Renault 5<\/td>40 kWh<\/td>~260 km<\/td>154 Wh\/km<\/td>~3 h 30<\/td>\u20ac28,100<\/td><\/tr>
Renault 5<\/td>52 kWh<\/td>~335 km<\/td>155 Wh\/km<\/td>~4 h 30<\/td>\u20ac31,100<\/td><\/tr>
VW ID.4<\/td>58 kWh<\/td>~340 km<\/td>171 Wh\/km<\/td>~5 h 30<\/td>\u20ac41,210<\/td><\/tr>
VW ID.4 Pro<\/td>79 kWh<\/td>~460 km<\/td>172 Wh\/km<\/td>~7 h<\/td>\u20ac47,805<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Every row says the same thing. The big battery adds range, true. But it mainly adds price (\u20ac3,000 to \u20ac9,000) and charging time (one to two hours more on each slow charge). Consumption barely moves: for the same model, a bigger battery doesn’t make you drive more efficiently.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In other words, everything you pay extra serves only the exception. The rest of the time, you carry a half-empty battery around, more expensive and slower to charge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What really drives consumption: weight, not kWh<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

If battery size doesn’t change consumption, what does? Weight and footprint. And that’s exactly where the chase for range does damage, because we don’t just take a bigger battery: we go larger, taller, often with all-wheel drive, and we pick the vehicle one segment up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Segment<\/th>Example<\/th>Weight<\/th>Real consumption<\/th>Real-world range<\/th>Price (incl. VAT)<\/th><\/tr><\/thead>
Compact<\/td>Renault 5 52 kWh<\/td>~1,500 kg<\/td>155 Wh\/km<\/td>~335 km<\/td>\u20ac31,100<\/td><\/tr>
Compact<\/td>Tesla Model 3 RWD<\/td>~1,840 kg<\/td>136 Wh\/km<\/td>~420 km<\/td>\u20ac35,990<\/td><\/tr>
Family<\/td>Tesla Model Y RWD<\/td>~1,980 kg<\/td>158 Wh\/km<\/td>~380 km<\/td>\u20ac40,990<\/td><\/tr>
Family<\/td>BMW iX3 (base)<\/td>~2,160 kg<\/td>165 Wh\/km<\/td>~500 km<\/td>\u20ac61,950<\/td><\/tr>
Family<\/td>Mercedes GLC electric 250<\/td>~2,370 kg<\/td>183 Wh\/km<\/td>~465 km<\/td>\u20ac67,900<\/td><\/tr>
7-seater<\/td>Kia EV9<\/td>~2,500 kg<\/td>213 Wh\/km<\/td>~450 km<\/td>\u20ac68,590<\/td><\/tr>
7-seater<\/td>Hyundai Ioniq 9<\/td>~2,550 kg<\/td>210 Wh\/km<\/td>~505 km<\/td>\u20ac73,495<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

From an efficient compact to a large family vehicle, consumption rises from about 14 kWh per 100 kilometres to over 21. That’s 20 to 50 % more energy, paid not three days a year, but on every trip of the year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One option deserves special mention, because many tick it by reflex: all-wheel drive. On an identical model, AWD adds roughly 5 to 7 Wh per kilometre over a two-wheel-drive version, makes the vehicle heavier and cuts real-world range. For a concrete benefit of a few days a year. It is, for the same model, the only choice that clearly worsens consumption. The more efficient version, by contrast, charges faster and costs less to run (more on that below).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The footprint explodes, the boot doesn’t<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

There’s a final, almost comical paradox. We go bigger “to have room.” But the exterior bulk grows much faster than the usable volume. Here’s the ground footprint (length \u00d7 width, excluding mirrors) and the boot, rear seats up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Model<\/th>Length<\/th>Ground footprint<\/th>Boot<\/th>Litres per m\u00b2 of footprint<\/th><\/tr><\/thead>
Renault 5<\/td>3.92 m<\/td>6.96 m\u00b2<\/td>326 L<\/td>47<\/td><\/tr>
VW ID.3<\/td>4.26 m<\/td>7.71 m\u00b2<\/td>385 L<\/td>50<\/td><\/tr>
Tesla Model 3<\/td>4.72 m<\/td>8.73 m\u00b2<\/td>425 L<\/td>49<\/td><\/tr>
Tesla Model Y<\/td>4.79 m<\/td>9.20 m\u00b2<\/td>854 L**<\/td>93<\/td><\/tr>
BMW iX3<\/td>4.78 m<\/td>9.06 m\u00b2<\/td>520 L<\/td>57<\/td><\/tr>
Mercedes GLC electric<\/td>4.85 m<\/td>9.27 m\u00b2<\/td>570 L<\/td>61<\/td><\/tr>
Volvo EX90 (7 st.)<\/td>5.04 m<\/td>9.89 m\u00b2<\/td>655 L*<\/td>66<\/td><\/tr>
Hyundai Ioniq 9 (7 st.)<\/td>5.06 m<\/td>10.02 m\u00b2<\/td>916 L*<\/td>91<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

* Boot in 5-seat configuration, third row folded. In a genuinely used 7-seat configuration, these large SUVs drop to around 330 litres, the boot of a 3.92-metre Renault 5.
** Tesla Model Y volume including the under-floor storage (manufacturer figure), hence the high ratio.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Between the smallest and the largest, the ground footprint grows by 44 %. Usable volume doesn’t follow: the ratio stays around 47 to 66 litres per square metre (Model Y aside, which counts its under-floor storage). You pay for tens of centimetres of bodywork, a harder parking spot and more energy to move, without gaining proportional volume. The point isn’t styling or body shape, it’s the mass and bulk you haul around every day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The exception proves the rule. The Tesla Model Y, barely bigger than a saloon, combines the largest boot in the table, contained consumption (158 Wh\/km) and a price below most large SUVs (\u20ac40,990). Size, then, isn’t a curse: it’s the added weight and oversizing you never use that cost money, not the well-designed vehicle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Charging: we almost always charge on AC<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

In a fleet’s real life, you charge while parked: at the office, the depot or at home. And those charge points deliver alternating current, most often 11 kW, sometimes 7.4 kW (single-phase) or a simple reinforced socket at 3.7 kW. 22 kW exists but stays rare, and in Flanders, for instance, the capacity tariff (which bills the power peak) makes it expensive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The most telling figure isn’t total charge time, but the kilometres recovered per hour plugged in. And there, consumption comes directly into play: an efficient vehicle recovers more kilometres for the same hour of charging.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Charging power<\/th>Efficient car (~15 kWh\/100)<\/th>Heavy car (~21 kWh\/100)<\/th><\/tr><\/thead>
3.7 kW (reinforced socket)<\/td>~22 km\/h<\/td>~16 km\/h<\/td><\/tr>
7.4 kW (single-phase)<\/td>~44 km\/h<\/td>~31 km\/h<\/td><\/tr>
11 kW (three-phase)<\/td>~66 km\/h<\/td>~47 km\/h<\/td><\/tr>
22 kW (three-phase)<\/td>~130 km\/h<\/td>~94 km\/h<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

A ten-hour night on an 11 kW point gives an efficient car about 550 to 660 kilometres back. Well beyond the 39 kilometres of daily use. Conversely, the bigger the battery, the longer it takes to refill: a 110 kWh battery needs more than nine hours at 11 kW. For a vehicle doing 39 kilometres a day, that’s a capacity you never fill and a charge time you endure as soon as you run low.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And the long trip? It isn’t solved with a big battery, but with DC fast charging. A mid-size battery that accepts 150 kW recovers 200 to 300 kilometres in about twenty minutes, the length of a break. You handle the exception at the fast charger, not by hauling hundreds of kilos all year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Real-world range drops in winter and on the motorway<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

There’s a trap in the “I’ll go big to be safe” reasoning: the stated range is an average. In real conditions it falls, especially in hard cold and at motorway speed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The scale is now well documented. The Recurrent 2025 study, on more than 30,000 electric vehicles, measures an average loss of about 22 % around 0 \u00b0C. The main cause isn’t battery chemistry, but cabin heating (up to \u221240 % in AAA tests in intense cold). On the motorway in cold weather, count on roughly 20 to 25 % less. A big battery doesn’t protect you from this: it takes the same percentage. What protects you is sizing to real-world use with a reasonable margin, and relying on fast charging for the exception.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The calculation no one runs: what you gain versus what you pay<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Let’s put the numbers down, because that’s the only way to decide.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the benefit side: on a long trip, a big battery saves about one fast-charging stop, roughly twenty minutes. Over four long departures a year, that’s about 1 h 20 of time saved over the year, concentrated on the holidays.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the cost side: the big battery costs \u20ac3,000 to \u20ac9,000 more to buy. Take \u20ac6,600, the typical gap on a family car. Over four years of ownership, that extra cost, divided by the roughly 5 h 20 of time saved on long trips, works out to more than \u20ac20 per minute saved<\/strong>. And that’s just the battery: if you also went heavier or all-wheel drive, add the excess consumption. Three kWh more per 100 kilometres over 25,000 kilometres a year is 750 kWh, about \u20ac300 of extra energy, every year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So you pay, permanently, for a comfort that only materialises a few days. This isn’t a moral judgement, it’s a trade-off. And put in these terms, the trade-off almost always tips the same way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Vans: the battery is paid for in payload<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

On vans, the reasoning gets even sharper, because a physical constraint kicks in: the maximum authorised mass. Under a category B licence, a van is capped at 3.5 tonnes. Every extra kilo of battery is a kilo less payload.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That’s what my model on real vehicles shows. The ranges below are the stated figures; for real-world use, apply the same drop as above (around \u221220 to \u221225 % in hard cold or on the motorway). The towing capacities (braked trailer) come from manufacturer data sheets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Large vans<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Model<\/th>Battery<\/th>Stated range<\/th>Max. payload<\/th>Towing capacity<\/th><\/tr><\/thead>
Renault Master E-Tech<\/td>40 kWh<\/td>~180 km<\/td>1,625 kg<\/td>2,500 kg<\/td><\/tr>
Renault Master E-Tech<\/td>87 kWh<\/td>~460 km<\/td>1,134 kg<\/td>2,500 kg<\/td><\/tr>
Peugeot e-Boxer<\/td>110 kWh<\/td>~425 km<\/td>665 kg<\/td>2,400 kg<\/td><\/tr>
Mercedes eSprinter<\/td>56 kWh<\/td>~200 km<\/td>918 kg<\/td>1,500 kg<\/td><\/tr>
Mercedes eSprinter<\/td>81 kWh<\/td>~310 km<\/td>734 kg<\/td>1,500 kg<\/td><\/tr>
Ford E-Transit<\/td>75 kWh<\/td>~315 km<\/td>908 kg<\/td>750 kg<\/td><\/tr>
Maxus eDeliver 9<\/td>52 kWh<\/td>~185 km<\/td>965 kg<\/td>1,500 kg<\/td><\/tr>
Maxus eDeliver 9<\/td>89 kWh<\/td>~295 km<\/td>725 kg<\/td>1,500 kg<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Large<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The Renault Master is the most striking example: going from 40 to 87 kWh gains range but costs nearly 500 kilos of payload. The same vehicle becomes a different work tool.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Medium vans (Custom, Trafic, Expert type)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Model<\/th>Battery<\/th>Stated range<\/th>Max. payload<\/th>Towing capacity<\/th><\/tr><\/thead>
Renault Trafic E-Tech (L2H1)<\/td>52 kWh<\/td>~250 km real (450 WLTP)<\/td>1,250 kg<\/td>2,000 kg<\/td><\/tr>
Ford E-Transit Custom<\/td>65 kWh<\/td>~350 km<\/td>1,100 kg<\/td>2,300 kg<\/td><\/tr>
Peugeot e-Expert<\/td>50 kWh<\/td>~225 km<\/td>1,078 kg<\/td>1,000 kg<\/td><\/tr>
Peugeot e-Expert<\/td>75 kWh<\/td>~350 km<\/td>1,150 kg<\/td>1,000 kg<\/td><\/tr>
Mercedes eVito<\/td>60 kWh<\/td>~280 km<\/td>876 kg<\/td>n\/a<\/td><\/tr>
Maxus eDeliver 7 (L1)<\/td>77 kWh<\/td>~320 km<\/td>1,050 kg<\/td>1,500 kg<\/td><\/tr>
Maxus eDeliver 7 (L1)<\/td>88 kWh<\/td>~370 km<\/td>1,125 kg<\/td>1,500 kg<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Medium<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Small vans (L1H1, city vans)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Model<\/th>Battery<\/th>Stated range<\/th>Max. payload<\/th>Towing capacity<\/th><\/tr><\/thead>
VW ID. Buzz Cargo<\/td>77 kWh<\/td>~410 km<\/td>650 kg<\/td>1,800 kg<\/td><\/tr>
Renault Kangoo E-Tech<\/td>45 kWh<\/td>~300 km<\/td>510 kg<\/td>1,500 kg<\/td><\/tr>
Maxus eDeliver 5<\/td>64 kWh<\/td>~335 km<\/td>1,125 kg<\/td>1,500 kg<\/td><\/tr>
Mercedes eCitan<\/td>45 kWh<\/td>~290 km<\/td>493 kg<\/td>1,050 kg<\/td><\/tr>
Peugeot e-Partner<\/td>50 kWh<\/td>~345 km<\/td>780 kg<\/td>750 kg<\/td><\/tr>
Kia PV5 Cargo<\/td>72 kWh<\/td>~415 km<\/td>790 kg<\/td>750 kg<\/td><\/tr>
Maxus eDeliver 3<\/td>52 kWh<\/td>~240 km<\/td>835 kg<\/td>1,030 kg<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Small<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

For anyone who has to tow, towing capacity clearly separates the models.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Towing<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

On vans, my clients most often decide on pure rationale: they start from the real need (payload, volume, towing, typical route) and derive the battery from it. The opposite of the “as much range as possible” logic. And that’s exactly the right method. For many van fleets, electrification, the “Improve” lever, becomes the first move, provided you size it to use and not to range anxiety.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The gain depends on your situation<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Choosing one step down, a battery matched to real use, isn’t doing without. It frees up value, and the nature of the gain depends on your case.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For a company car, a cheaper vehicle lowers the total cost, and that budget doesn’t vanish: it can feed the rest of the mobility budget<\/a>, a bike, public transport, even the train for the holidays the car no longer has to drive in one go. The budget already exists; we just don’t see it as a cost while it’s locked up in a big battery.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If the driver buys their own car, the reasoning is even more direct: they pay less, at purchase and in use.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For a van, the gain isn’t only financial: it’s payload, hence the ability to carry more, often with a cheaper vehicle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When the big battery really is justified<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

To stay honest, and because this isn’t a matter of dogma: there are genuine cases where the large battery is the right call. The daily high-mileage driver clocking 250 kilometres a day with no chance to charge during the day. The sales rep who lives on the road. The van that tows regularly and needs reserve. The vehicle with no charge point while parked, relying solely on fast charging.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In those situations, the extra capacity genuinely works. So the rule isn’t “small battery everywhere,” it’s “the battery sized to real-world use.” For the vast majority of cases, that real-world use is far more modest than what we picture at order time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A simple method, in four questions<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Before confirming an order, or setting a fleet policy<\/a>, four questions are enough to size correctly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

First, what distance does the vehicle actually cover on a loaded day, not an exceptional one. Next, can it be charged while parked, overnight or during the day. Then, for a van, what payload, what volume and what towing capacity are genuinely needed. Finally, what margin to allow for winter and the rare long trips, knowing the latter are handled at the fast charger.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Answer those four questions with numbers, and the right vehicle appears on its own. It’s almost always one step below the one you were about to order. Cheaper, more useful, better sized.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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This is exactly the kind of trade-off we equip fleet managers for: starting from real-world use and data, not spec sheets. If you’re electrifying your fleet, cars or vans, and want to size it right: nicolas@nextmobility.be<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sources<\/h2>\n\n\n\n