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FUTURE OF FLEET | EV EDUCATION
HOW DATA WILL DRIVE THE EV EVOLUTION
Adam Hall I director of energy services I Drax
What can fleets expect in 2022? Even more of an urgency to electrify, with business fleets having an instrumental role to play in the rapid expansion of the EV sector.
More and more companies are choosing to get ahead of the game before the 2030 ICE vehicle ban. Even after the pandemic, the uptake of EVs has shown no signs of slowing down. And demand is only going to increase, with National Grid forecasting over 36.8m EVs on the road by 2050.
The pandemic has also accelerated a shift in digitisation across the board, not least with fleets. As fleet managers, you’ve probably found it increasingly beneficial to monitor and organise your team remotely – if you weren’t already.
One certainty remains throughout this exponential growth: data is king. Through telematics, diagnostics and software, fleet operators have access to more data than ever before. This is primarily useful in understanding current behaviour, performance and costs. But it can also be used to identify trends, opportunities, mitigate risk and build resilience into your future fleet plans.
Chances are – if you’re using fleet managing software – you’re already drowning in data. There’s so much that can be measured, it can be hard to see the wood from the trees. Especially if you have different metrics sitting in different platforms.
You’ll no doubt be familiar with driver and vehicle data. But if you’re electrifying your fleet, you’re also adding charge point and energy consumption data into the mix.
SO, WHAT DATA SHOULD YOU FOCUS ON CAPTURING?
DRIVER, TELEMATICS AND ROUTE PLANNING DATA
This is the data you’ll use to understand and improve driver behaviour. Some drivers will need help transitioning to a driving style that’s suitable for EV. You’ll need to be able to monitor data related to drivers’ behaviour and have it reported on the dashboard by the fleet management software. Telematics are required for this purpose, as they’re the mechanism which enable data collection from vehicles.
VEHICLE TYPE, CONDITION AND MAINTENANCE DATA
Collecting live vehicle data will help you monitor the condition to stay ahead of any vehicle downtime or plan for any maintenance which needs to be scheduled.
LOCAL GRID CONDITION DATA
Can the local power grid accommodate your fleet’s charging needs? If the requirements can’t be met, fleet managers need to look outside the organisation for help in securing a partnership with an energy provider.
CHARGE POINT AND CHARGE STATION DATA
Your energy provider should also enable you to collect and track data related to operating charging points. You need to have a strong understanding of the costs involved in installing the charge stations, as well as the daily energy consumption of your fleet.
When correctly gathered and analysed, whether by your own fleet management team or a partner, data becomes valuable insight. With insight, you can start to understand the patterns and behaviours that will influence meaningful change.
See how vehicle, fleet and energy management data are bought together in one place in the Drax portal, by searching ‘My Electric Vehicles’ on the website.
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