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Follow on Google News |  Isotrak Innovates With Electric VehiclesIn a move that underlines its commitment to supporting the increased use of alternative fuels, Isotrak has developed enhancements to ATMS (Active Transport Management System) to enable customers to reduce the risk of vehicles running out of charge.
By: Isotrak Electric vehicles emit much smaller amounts of CO2 which is excellent for the environment. On average a 3.5 tonne electric van will use 20kg of CO2 per km and an equivalent size diesel van will use approximately 36kg of CO2 per km. Electric vehicles are very quiet as there are fewer components involved in generating the battery power which results in improved sustainability and reduced noise pollution. A disadvantage of the electric vehicle is limited range and the inability to re-charge batteries whilst the vehicle is away from base. Isotrak’s developments help overcome these issues through better visibility and communication. A further disadvantage is the requirement to physically ‘plug the vehicle in’ to charge it. This challenge is also addressed by the Isotrak solution. How It Works Isotrak has linked with the vehicle’s battery via the Engine Management System to monitor the battery’s charge levels. Once the battery capacity has discharged and broken a configurable preset threshold, a charge alert will be triggered in ATMS creating an automated alert message. The message will be displayed on the driver’s in-cab terminal, but can only be read once the vehicle is stationary for safety reasons. The alert can be accompanied by a message such as ‘return to the nearest charging point for battery recharging’ or advising other action the driver should take. The alert can also be sent to other managers as an email or SMS form to ensure that the operator is aware of any risk of the vehicle being unable to complete its journey. As the driver breaks the geo-fence returning to its home base there is a preset 15 minutes window for them to plug the vehicle battery in for charging. After 15 minutes have elapsed and the vehicle is still not charging a second alert will be sent to the respective manager via SMS or email to alert them to the situation. Please refer to figure 1. To further help operators manage the vehicle fleets, a dashboard summary within Isotrak’s system allows fleet operators to view at a glance the status of each electric vehicle such as ‘on charge’, ‘not charging’ or indicates the charge levels of each vehicle. Who Will Use It Isotrak has been working with its customers to understand the limitations they have found and the real-life challenges of working with electric vehicles. A number of customers have expressed an interest in using this capability which is expected to be on field trials in spring 2010. Craig Sears-Black, Sales & Marketing Director at Isotrak, says; “Electric vehicles have the potential to significantly reduce CO2 emissions but their widespread adoption will only take off when the challenges mean that operators have confidence that they will not let their customers down. This development is one step towards achieving that goal.” #ends# Notes to Editors For more information or to request photography or an interview, please contact: Melinda Newitt Manuela Tise +44 (0) 1908 540742 About Isotrak Isotrak customers save over £100,000,000 per year by using their mobile assets more efficiently. Isotrak helps companies save money, improve customer service, reduce their environmental impact and win new business, all by using mobile assets more efficiently. Isotrak provides best-in-class software products and professional service solutions, driven by a combination of real-time visibility and performance measurement, interpreted from GPS satellite tracking and vehicle telematics data. To help customers focus on the job of managing transport, rather than managing technology, Isotrak delivers its products on a proven ‘managed service’ platform, backed by a high-availability Service Level Agreement (SLA), and accessible through any modern web browser. Established in 1996 as a division of NFC, Isotrak became a separate company in July 1999 and today supports over 21,000 vehicle connections for customers including Asda, Eddie Stobart, Marks & Spencer, Sainsbury’s, Skanska Utilities, Tesco, and the Royal Mail and many more. For more information, see www.isotrak.com Corporate enquiries to Craig Sears-Black, telephone +44 (0) 1908 540 777 or email sales@isotrak.com # # # Isotrak provides best-in-class software products and professional service solutions, driven by a combination of real-time visibility and performance measurement, interpreted from GPS satellite tracking and vehicle telematics data. End
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