Commercial fleets represent approximately 10% of total European emissions. Playing an essential role in the continent’s green transition, there is a significant drive for sustainability and electrification of commercial fleets. However, the switch to EV-native fleet management and operations is complex, costly, and disruptive. The core of the problem lies in the fact that the commercial fleet ecosystem – from vehicle leasing to fleet operations – treats EVs like low-grade ICEs (internal combustion engine vehicles), not capitalizing upon EV’s benefits, such as their high durability and energy efficiency. 

This is why we are excited to back Pelikan Mobility, a UK and France-based deeptech platform on a mission to optimize the financing and operations of sustainable commercial fleets. 

Founded by David Salfati (Engie, Macquarie) and Vincent Schachter (CEA, TotalEnergies, smart-charging pioneer eMotorWerks sold to Enel) – who have a combined 30 years of experience in the fields of energy, mobility, algorithm development, and real assets finance – Pelikan aims to introduce the next logical step in shifting commercial mobility to electric vehicle (EV): tech-enabled, operations-centric leasing solutions. 

Pelikan bridges EV leasing and fleet operations, driving down the cost of electrification by:

• Empowering operators to efficiently and productively integrate EVs in the specific operational context of their fleet,
• Extending lease duration and assets longevity, while controlling risks and ensuring fit-for-purpose.

How does Pelikan work? 

The company is developing a digital twin-enhanced EV-native leasing solution. It reconstructs – from readily available client data – digital twins that precisely capture each fleet’s operations, constraints, and business challenges. 

The platform’s AI and combinatorial optimization algorithms enable the efficient integration of EVs and charging solutions into each fleet’s operations over several years.

To build an operations-centric lease plan, Pelikan starts from the fleet’s operational goals and constraints and computes the optimal use of each type of vehicle (ICEs and EVs, at different stages in their lifecycle) and the financing profile that matches that usage value. These usage and financing profiles are translated into a cost-effective and productive EVs lease plan.

Furthermore, the platform tracks and optimizes operations on an ongoing basis, ensuring the fleet leverages the full potential of its assets.

Pelikan Mobility’s solution is being deployed and tested with major utility and logistics players in France. 

Vincent Schachter, co-founder, comments: 

“Pelikan’s mission is to drive massive electrification of commercial fleets. In order to achieve this, we are convinced that a radically new approach is necessary. We started by developing our technology for usage-driven optimization and fine-tuned its capabilities with our first customers. With this initial round of funding, we will leverage it to lease cost-effective and productive EVs tailored to the context of each fleet“.

David Salfati, co-founder, adds:

“The finance world will need to deploy dozens of billions of euros every year into commercial EV assets, whilst the operations world will need to run them efficiently to power their business. Bridging these two worlds to ensure that capital flows into productive and efficient assets is going to be mission critical, and core to what Pelikan is building.”

On why we invested in Pelikan, Kate McGinn from our investor team, comments:

“The transportation sector accounts for 29% of our annual greenhouse gas emissions. Even though we have the technology to dramatically reduce this number, current leasing options are creating a bottleneck for commercial EVs to be used at-scale. As the commercial green leaser of choice, Pelikan is solving this bottleneck and challenging the way electric vehicles are financed and operated. Pelikan is finally making the green choice a pragmatic one.”

We are excited to participate in Pelikan’s €4 million funding round, alongside Pale Blue Dot, Frst, and other investors.

With the new funds, Pelikan aims to launch the leasing offer.

For more information, visit pelikan-mobility.com.