Whitepaper – Telematics and Data Science: Informing Energy-Efficient Mobility 2016/2017
Certain state agency fleets are mandated under the Energy Policy Act (EPAct) to acquire alternative fuel vehicles or otherwise implement strategies to increase alternative fuel use in covered fleet vehicles. The U.S. Department of Energy’s Vehicle Technologies Office implements the Alternative Fuel Transportation Program, also known as the State and Alternative Fuel Provider Fleet Program, with the assistance of the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). NREL works with covered fleets to help them meet their EPAct requirements. The University of Connecticut (UCONN) is a covered EPAct fleet.
In late 2016, the State and Alternative Fuel Provider Fleet Program began working with Sawatch Group to analyze fleet vehicle suitability for transition to electric vehicles (EVs) and pilot the use of ezEV smartphone-based telematics to collect the data necessary to perform the analyses. In early 2017, UCONN engaged with NREL about the opportunity to analyze vehicles in its fleet for transition to EVs. UCONN can obtain telematics data across many of its fleet vehicles using Sawatch Group’s ezEV.
The analysis described in this report uses vehicle performance, routing, and location data from ezEV to: (1) determine the suitability of each vehicle for transition to an EV; (2) identify the electric vehicle supply equipment (EVSE, also known as charging infrastructure) needed to match the driving needs of these vehicles should they be transitioned to EVs; and (3) provide guidance on EV total cost of ownership (TCO), return on investment (ROI), and potential cost savings. Five vehicles have ezEV data for the analysis period, March 7 through May 23, 2017.
Fleet operation teams interested in deploying alternative fuel vehicles into their fleets may face obstacles in economics and operational practicality (such as charging and routing) when selecting vehicle technology that can work well for their fleet. Consequently, it is important to fully understand how to overcome these obstacles, and ensure that any changes in technology will meet mission and duty cycle requirements. Telematics data can provide the required certainty.
Learn more about the telematics hardware and analytics associated with the UCONN project by reading our whitepaper.
