EVs Elevate New Problem for Fleet Optimization: Telematics Hasn’t Caught Up – Fleet Administration

Planning for fleet electrification is sparking in depth conversations about what automobiles to purchase, when to purchase them, and the holy grail of reducing the entire price of car possession. But most operators probably haven’t thought-about one other facet of the EV transition that may straight impression fleet administration: the truth that EV telematics can’t but supply the deep operational, monetary and danger administration insights that fleet house owners have come to anticipate from current telematics programs.

The primary problem is that telematics service suppliers (TSPs) have restricted entry to crucial EV operation and utilization metrics due to lagging trade necessities, issue in connecting to EVs’ onboard diagnostics, and producers’ proprietary (non-standardized) knowledge protocols. Restricted ICE car requirements have been pushed by governmental emissions necessities, however no emissions for EVs means no governmental mandates. Telematics {hardware} producers are working to reverse-engineer options, nevertheless it’s nonetheless early within the course of given the comparatively latest introduction of electrical automobiles. It’s also an arduous course of that requires exceptionally educated engineers.

The second problem is that TSPs at the moment should present separate telematics stories for battery- and gas-powered automobiles due to the fabric variations in the best way they function. That provides further time for an already busy fleet supervisor making an attempt to check prices and different benchmarks between the 2 asset sorts, notably contemplating the apples-to-oranges variations in key metrics (gas consumption and oil life versus battery vary and cost fee, for instance). It additionally hampers efforts to determine bottom-line efficiency throughout all the fleet.

Sooner or later, TSPs will combine EV knowledge into the core telematics software in order that it seems facet by facet with metrics on the gas-powered facet of the fleet. In addition they will discover methods to transform disparate knowledge units resembling miles per gallon and miles per kilowatt-hour into standardized values for straightforward evaluation of total fleet prices and utilization. Right this moment, nevertheless, neither EV telematics nor telematics for combined EV and ICE fleets is far past the infancy stage of full market productization.

Insufficient EV Information

It goes with out saying that conventional metrics on components resembling miles per gallon, gas utilization, idle time, oil adjustments, fan belts, transmissions, carburetors and emissions are irrelevant within the EV world. However even fundamental EV telematics parameters resembling battery cost and utilization are onerous to come back by, and different very important EV measurements like mileage per battery cost, charging pace, most battery charging capability, battery temperature and car charging standing are considerably more difficult even for the strongest engineering groups.

That’s due to an ideal storm of obstacles. First, whereas all automobiles with inner combustion engines have OBD-II ports by means of which telematics knowledge and bother codes are retrieved, most EVs don’t conform to the OBD-II commonplace. Manufacturers like Tesla, for instance, haven’t any OBD-II port. Others have a port, however don’t even report VIN within the typical manner. These components are forcing telematics {hardware} suppliers to search out new methods to entry the Parameter IDs (PIDs) which have supplied onboard diagnostics because the daybreak of telematics.

Second, gas-powered automobiles are legally required to offer entry to an ordinary set of telematics knowledge, however no such requirement but exists for EVs. Proprietary PID knowledge varies from EV producer to producer, which additional complicates the method of manufacturing actionable data.

Third, EVs don’t have an “ignition” state, which causes main issues for TSPs whose purposes are primarily based partly on the ignition standing of a car to show correct trip-related data. Whereas the idea of “on” or “off” does apply to some EVs, it doesn’t map to “ignition.”

One instance of how this performs out is within the problem of measuring the beginning and cease of an EV journey. The telematics machine can nonetheless monitor car motion and placement, however with out the flexibility to hook up with an ignition system, the machine doesn’t know when to start out and cease recording knowledge. Which means different strategies like present draw should be used, however that is sophisticated by snags resembling the truth that gear place isn’t all the time accessible, and motion from a cease isn’t indicator as a result of a cease doesn’t all the time point out the start or finish of a visit. Till telematics groups can develop a extra definitive strategy, fleet managers will run into roadblocks in duties starting from figuring out time on website and non-productive time within the subject to monitoring EV driver conduct or compliance with hours-of-service laws.

Blended Fleet Reporting

Past the information dilemma, as famous earlier, the opposite main bump in at present’s telematics highway entails the immature reporting course of accessible for combined fleets. The present apply of offering one report for ICE automobiles and a separate evaluation for EVs places an additional time and useful resource burden on fleet managers confronted with evaluating two units of information. It additionally inhibits visibility into big-picture points resembling total fleet utilization, prices and danger mitigation alternatives which are important to fleet optimization.

These considerations shall be resolved with new reporting schemes because the trade adjusts to the combined ICE/EV fleet actuality. Dashboards and particulars from either side of the fleet shall be accessible in the identical interface, together with new metrics that merge the 2 knowledge units into a standard scale as a way to illuminate developments and allow higher enterprise selections for the fleet as an entire.

One instance is likely to be a brand new manner of calculating price per mile that takes into consideration variables resembling the price of refueling a automobile versus the price of charging an EV, together with whether or not the charging takes place on the workplace after hours or on the highway at premium costs. One other is likely to be a brand new effectivity metric that considers each the price of engine idle time on the ICE facet and driver cease time on the EV facet. A 3rd is likely to be a special strategy to measuring dangerous driving primarily based on the truth that EVs have sooner acceleration than ICE automobiles.

The exact methodology and particular metrics will range from TSP to TSP, which raises an necessary level as operators bounce on the EV bandwagon. How is your telematics service supplier getting ready to deal with the brand new EV knowledge and mixed-fleet reporting challenges?

Inquiries to Ask Your TSP

As you add EVs to your car lineup, buying the suitable telematics answer offers you crucial insights that may aid you function at peak capability, security and profitability. Listed below are some points to deal with together with your TSP that may aid you make the suitable selection.

• What EV fashions do you help? Is your supplier capable of provide metrics for the precise EVs in your fleet, whether or not it’s an SUV like a Hyundai Kona Electrical, an eLDV like a Ford E-Transit, or an eHDV like a Freightliner eCascadia?
• What key efficiency and driving conduct metrics do you at the moment present for EVs? Gasoline effectivity (the quantity of power consumed per mile)? Vary? Charging time? Battery well being? Harsh braking? Speedy acceleration? Different?
• Assuming you’re at the moment offering separate EV and ICE stories, what are your plans to alter that? When and the way will you consolidate the 2 stories in order that we will view data on each components of our fleet extra effectively?
• Have you ever begun to rationalize EV and ICE knowledge? How are you or will you do it? Are you able to give me some examples? As an illustration, how are you going to normalize miles per gallon versus miles per kilowatt hour to offer an indicator of total gas effectivity?
• Do your algorithms bear in mind a number of the distinctive attributes of EV operation?  For instance, do your route optimization algorithms handle the distinction between charging places and refueling places? Do your vary algorithms contemplate environmental components resembling temperature and altitude in addition to driver conduct, which have an effect on vary?

Telematics has been a cornerstone of fleet optimization because the first programs hit the market greater than twenty years in the past. It should essentially evolve with fleet electrification, however it’s going to stay a vital software for fleet administration. Partnering with a TSP that’s on the reducing fringe of EV telematics is a crucial step for guaranteeing the financial viability of your fleet as you be part of the electrical car revolution.

Joel Younger is Chief Technologist at Sensata INSIGHTS, a worldwide enterprise unit of Sensata Applied sciences that gives end-to-end IoT fleet administration options spanning all the provide chain together with telematics, video telematics and related trailers.