Geotab opens UK research hub to help fleet operators switch to electric vehicles

Telematics and data intelligence specialist Geotab has opened a new Innovation and Research Hub to support fleet operators in their transition to electric vehicles.

Based in High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, the facility will offer data insights that provide the information needed to make informed decisions for fleet electrification and sustainability goals, such as vehicle range, efficiency and state-of-charge.

Without access to this data, Geotab said fleets can face issues such as inefficiency, unexpected breakdowns, decreased productivity and an unsatisfactory electric vehicle experience.

Geotab’s platform provides near real-time data on battery charge, range, energy and fuel usage and charging history for over 300 different EV makes and models.

Its range of tools for EV fleet management include an EV Suitability Assessment (EVSA) that analyses unique driver profiles and patterns to identify which fleet vehicles are suitable for electrification.

The Green Fleet Dashboard compares performance against similar fleets, including EV performance, usage and cost savings, and a host of online content that provides data-driven analyses and resources for fleets of any size along the EV conversion journey, including analyses to help fleets understand EV battery lifespans and real-world range impacts.

The facility will offer functions including vehicle reverse engineering, optimal installation methods and testing and validation of Geotab’s new hardware and software, design.

It will also focus on specification and testing of wiring harnesses and installation procedures, the identification and coding of on-board diagnostics from new vehicles, updated or additional data point from vehicles previously worked on, product safety checks, working with partners and customers, and employee training.

"In the last three years, vehices have become less available and we've pushed nicely into the decarboinsiation of vehicles that are already on the road," explained Geotab associate vice president, sales & business development, Aaron Jarvis. "So we pivoted quite quickly to bringing that big data to bear. We look at the fleet vehicles and how they're being driven and compare them against the way other vehicles are being driven across our 40,000 customers.

"We're now delivering insight to fleet managers saying, for example, one driver is idling more than similar drivers across the world - or conversely that their fleet is performing very well compared with other fleets.

"We try to make it easy for a fleet manger who's been thrown the responsibility to get started on the journey to zero emissions. We can layer on helping them as they get into the detail. We have some very large fleets in the UK now and we can use our tools to plan which sites should have charging infrastructure and where it should be. We provide the data to say, for example, that instead of evenly distributing the £200,000 of charging infrastructure you've got, it needs to be weighted in a specific direction.

"We've had customer fleets that were facing a very large bill to upgrade the infrastructure at their site and we were able to help them compare that against the cost of moving to a completely new site that could meet their power demands.

"We can also calculate what it would look like if they added maybe 100 EVs doing the same job.
So across the board we're trying to layer up and help the fleet managers who are looking to operate electric vehicles and then scaling it out."

Added Geotab senior vice president of Europe Edward Kulperger: “Our state of the art High Wycombe facility is Geotab’s first dedicated automotive facility in Europe, and is behind much of the success of the innovative technology used to reach this EV make and model support milestone, as well as our work on the British Antarctic Survey, the United Kingdom's national Polar research institute, as the first commercial telematics provider to go live in the Antarctic.”

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