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More and more passenger transport companies are switching to electric transport. Sometimes of their own accord, but often because tenders require it. Knowing the range of your electric vehicles is essential, says Wouter Hulskotte, Manager KAM and Fleet at Connexxion. He explains how Connexxion uses our data terminal in combination with Euphoria Mobility's vehicle data module and driving style analysis.
At Connexxion, all vehicles are equipped with our data terminal. Of these, around five hundred electric vehicles are additionally equipped with the vehicle data module. "We are driving more and more electrically. This brings with it the necessary challenges,'' says Hulskotte. ''The range of the vehicles is getting better and better, but at the end of the day we want to maximise the range of a vehicle in service. So we use the data from the data terminal to monitor this.''
Connexxion uses a CAN interface connected to our data terminal to see the right data through the planning software. "We receive signals from the CAN interface, such as range, battery level and whether a vehicle is being charged," explains Hulskotte. "This data is shared with our planning software so that we can view the data through it.
Insight via planning package
In the vehicle overview, the planner can always see the range of the vehicles. "We can easily consult the range via an overview of the available vehicles," says Hulskotte. "We also receive alerts when a vehicle has a range of less than twenty percent.''
Usability
The vehicle data module also provides a practical solution to another problem. We believe it is very important to offer good employment practices,'' says Hulskotte. ''This includes making sure that working hours are not endlessly exceeded, but in the taxi business this can sometimes happen. Drivers do not always like this, which is why some drivers reported that they could not drive any further because the range was not sufficient. We could not see this remotely, and it regularly led to discussions between the driver and the dispatcher. This is the last thing you want when it is rush hour and you want to get rid of trips smoothly. With data access, this was no longer a problem.''
Better driving behaviour
In addition to using the data from the data terminal to gain insight into the vehicle's range, Connexxion Taxi Services also uses our driving style analysis. ''We think it is important to have a picture of driving behaviour. We want our drivers to get our passengers from A to B safely and comfortably. Driving style also affects the range of an electric vehicle. If a driver accelerates very fast, the range will decrease faster and we want to prevent that.''
Top 10
The data from the driving style analysis is converted into scores. Each driver receives a summary of how he or she performed in the analysis at the end of the shift. "We analyse the top 10 drivers and see which aspects of their driving have the biggest impact on their range. This is our way of encouraging drivers to drive more sustainably.''
Recommended
Hulskotte recommends every company to start with the data terminal. ''I think any company that has several vehicles can benefit from it. Through the data terminal and the accompanying module, we have insight into both the range of the vehicle and the driving behaviour of the drivers. In addition, all our communication between the driver and the head office is via the data terminal. Especially at peak times during the day, it is nice not to have to worry about the range of a vehicle.''
