The Fleetsu team had the opportunity to showcase some of our EV Fleet management breakthroughs at iDrive 2021, including pulling live data from a Tesla Model 3.
Presenting the Possibilities of Connecting to EV Fleet vehicles
On November 4th, Fleetsu had the pleasure of attending iDrive, WA’s premier electric fleet conference and expo, to showcase the power of telematics and automotive data in accelerating the switch to electric vehicles (EVs). With summer in full swing, and after having applied 8 litres of sunscreen it took concentrated effort to pull our eyes away from a gorgeous Electric Porsche Taycan. Which had gracefully rolled up to glisten on display right next to us, effortlessly pulling crowds all day long.
Our setup centred around one of our most exciting achievements yet – pulling live data from a Tesla’s internal network into a rolling dashboard up on the big-screen. Giving us real time status information from the Model 3 as show-goers interacted with it.
A breakthrough in EV telematics
Under the frunk, the Tesla had our very own Fleetsu developed device installed. Our device is able to listen to all messages being conveyed across the CAN by the chatty model 3 (seriously, this car talks non-stop.) Once captured, the device wirelessly streams data points to our platform, which we convert into human-readable automotive data that fleet managers can use.
Using our dashboard we are able to display huge macro data points including live charging information and life time charge. Our dashboard can compare charge amounts against discharge rates. Specifying how much charge is being used on actual propulsion compared to other power hungry features like sentry mode and aircon. We also had fun demonstrating some more specific data, such as showing door open and closed status as people interacted with the Tesla. You can read more about how we developed the dashboard here.
Thats cool, but so what?
This innovation has tremendous potential, but obviously, it’s a bit less cool if you don’t have an electric vehicle just yet. Which includes most of our team and pretty much everyone else. But not for long, we know they’re just on the horizon for most businesses and we’re passionate about accelerating their adoption. Adopting EVs into a traditional fleet historically centred around the almighty fuel card requires concentrated effort and adapting to a whole new generation of fleet management challenges.
First and foremost, an EV fleet is a highly proactive one; you can’t just grab the keys and nip down the servo for a fill up and a Mrs Macs when you’re both running on empty. The number of available charging stations at your business will always be outnumbered by the number of thirsty vehicles. Vital business decisions suddenly start to surface, like how do I prioritise which EVs to charge? Which of my fleet vehicles can I realistically replace with EVs? Whats the actual range of my EVs based on how I’m using them? The answer my friend, as always, is data. Before going 0-100 for an EV fleet, the first step is to understand your fleet as it is.
EVs are a team effort
The burning questions above are ones we regularly get from fleet managers, and these inspired us to attend iDrive. The Fleetsu booth stood side by side with some of our proud partners including: Gemtek, Kaya and Mojo.
We’re charging into battle as a full stack solution to help businesses overcome some of the daunting tasks surrounding onboarding EV’s. Making the switch is becoming the norm, and transitioning to an electric fleet is shifting to a priority for many businesses. But EVs aren’t light travellers, when they roll into your depot they bring with them a whole new suite of requirements. Including new infrastructure installations for charging and monitoring. New software platforms to enable power load balancing and stop you receiving a stern phone call from Western Power asking why the local grid is down. And of course data, lots and lots of fleet data, our speciality. Leading the EV charge in your organisation requires standing shoulder to shoulder with the right teams to make it happen, and all importantly, leveraging your current fleet data to sound the horn.
We would like to extend our gratitude to the iDrive team for organising such a tremendous event.
