About the Fleet Decarbonization accelerator

Transitioning to a zero-emissions fleet takes time—including up to 24 months for utility upgrades. In addition, supply chain issues have created long wait times for certain types of vehicles. If you plan to transition your vehicles in the upcoming years, now is the time to begin planning.

The person(s) responsible for creating your organization’s fleet decarbonization plan—whether that is your sustainability manager, fleet manager, or operations manager—should be the primary participant(s), attend all sessions, and complete the weekly assignments. Each organization may enroll up to four participants, though this is not required.

We know every organization is unique, so we’d love to talk with you about your specific situation. We have experience working with sizable fleets and helping fleet managers from large companies figure out how to manageably break these down into subsets for the purposes of this program experience.

Generally, participants have at least four vehicles in their fleet, but we encourage interested individuals with smaller fleets to reach out to us to discuss whether they’d be a fit.

The goal of the Accelerator is to provide the learning and support for your business to create an actionable fleet decarbonization plan. Ideally, this will require a meaningful time investment (several hours per week) from your fleet manager and/or sustainability manager and others in your organization. The specific time involvement for a successful participant will vary depending on fleet size, complexity, and information availability.

Like many things, the more you put into this program, the more you get out of it; for example, we often hear from graduates that the networking and relationship-building components of the Accelerator were among its most valuable offerings.

Specific commitments include:

• The person(s) responsible for creating your organization’s fleet decarbonization plan, and optionally up to four total staff members, attend the weekly 90-minute online sessions and the two-day in-person session in Seattle.

• Commitment to create a fleet decarbonization plan, business case, and presentation during the program. This will require work in between sessions.

• Executive sponsor – a senior leader with budget and decision-making responsibilities related to fleet decarbonization.

We encourage you to reach out to discuss where you are in your process and whether the Accelerator will be a fit.

Past Accelerator graduates have begun the program at many different stages in the process, from those with no knowledge or experience to those who have already purchased several vehicles and chargers. 90% of all graduates say they are further along in the fleet decarbonization than if they hadn’t participated in the Accelerator, regardless of how far along they were before enrolling.

If you’re currently considering hiring a consultant, or have hired one and are in the early stages of the engagement, this program can help you ask the right questions and confidently manage and collaborate with the consultant.

If you have already worked with the consultant to develop a full plan and are now executing on it, you’re unlikely to benefit as much from this program.

We encourage you to reach out to us to discuss your unique circumstances, so we can provide a recommendation specific to you. Generally, we’ve heard from past participants who were already working with consultants that they still benefited from the program and were glad to have participated.

The Fleet Decarbonization Accelerator is primarily designed for both for-profit and nonprofit organizations. That said, we do accept public sector organizations and a number have participated in past cohorts. We hear from Accelerator graduates that they value working with peers across sectors, and that this has enhanced their experience.

We also offer special private Accelerator programs for the public sector—for example, we hosted a private Accelerator for Washington State agencies in Spring 2024. Contact us if you are interested in exploring a private Accelerator.

The cohort is limited to 25 organizations. This allows us to provide the 1:1 coaching that is a key component of the Accelerator and gives participants the opportunity to get to know and support each other throughout the program. We aim to have a diverse group of businesses from across Washington and Oregon, including BIPOC-owned businesses.

Organizations will have a significant portion of their fleet’s operating footprint in Washington and/or Oregon. We encourage companies from across Washington and Oregon to enroll.

There is a one-time program fee of $950 for fleets 3-24 vehicles, $1,950 for fleets 25-499 vehicles, or $2,950 for fleets 500+ vehicles. This helps offset a small portion of the Accelerator’s operating costs, which includes access to fleet decarbonization experts, 1:1 coaching from fleet electrification experts from the Electrification Coalition, and presentations from fleet managers who have already started to decarbonize their fleets.

Financial assistance is available for businesses that require it. For more information, please contact us at accelerators@climatesolutions.org.