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Webfleet transforms telematics ahead of electric transition

As the industry continues its transition to electric vehicles, Webfleet is helping operators manage its fleets and cut costs
webfleet

With the announcement of the Victorian zero-emissions bus fleet transition road map in early November, and other state governments jumping onboard the sustainability topic, more and more operators are turning to zero-emission buses for their fleets. 

While the technology is innovative and packed with advantages, the quick turnaround has left some operators wondering how they will manage this transition, make the most of their new ZEB/EVBs, and ensure they are running a profitable operation.  

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The fleet management system of Webfleet provides the perfect solution to help tackle the transition, despite its roots in providing data on diesel buses. 

“Telematics is hugely beneficial for diesel buses to track fuel consumption and fuel efficiency,” Bridgestone ANZ marketing manager for Webfleet Scott Elkington told ABC

“We look at things like engine idling, revving, harsh braking, harsh steering and acceleration, and even elevation, to determine what is excessively burning your fuel.” 

As the industry begins adopting zero-emissions vehicles, the mindset and traditional methods are being confronted with change, says Elkington. 

“Instead of thinking in litres, inventory and fixed purchasing, EV buses can cause those slower moving costs to fluctuate rapidly. Getting a handle on energy cost and consumption is one of the hardest things for operators at the moment.

“Another area of focus for a lot of operators is figuring out how many chargers they will need in their depots, and how to manage charger use.”

Webfleet’s EV reporting helps operators track when, where and for how long buses are plugged in for charging, giving insight into why the EVs are at their current level of charge remotely in the cloud.  

With this data, operators receive live insight into the status of the battery and can work out the most suitable times for charging.  

“For example, say a bus is at 30 per cent charge, and it needs to do a 200km trip tomorrow, the best point of action would be to top it up to 85 per cent which would give us around 350km range,” Elkington says.

“The Webfleet system will then send an alert saying the bus is charged to that point, and the charger can then be passed to different buses. Depending on the connection, it can even disconnect the charger – preventing overcharging.

“This saves time, money and energy for operators.” 

In Western Australia, multi-national operator Transdev has been seeing the benefits of these in-depth telematics capabilities, installing the Webfleet system on all 440 buses in its fleet. 

Initially using the technology to track where its buses are and relaying this information to customers, Transdev soon saw the extra advantages that came with extracting this varied data. 

“In line with the push by governments to reach zero emissions, Transdev has been adding electric buses to its fleet,” Elkington says.  

“Electric buses are a whole different ballgame for fleet management and being able to pull lots of operational data helps to quickly understand how to maximise their efficiency and return. 

Transdev has been using the data provided by Webfleet to drive business decisions, from strategic decisions on where deployment of EVs will have the biggest impact, to drivers using Optidrive dashboards to adapt their driving style and maximise EV range.   

“The old adage holds true – you can only improve what you can track. As operators and managers, it’s easy to look at depot collected data for insight, but operators really need to look at it live from the vehicle,” he says. 

“Better data and oversight is critical for toting down complex costs and increasing overall profitability.” 

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