Home Information station Electromobility in the company Smart eFleets

Smart eFleets

How can the cross-company use of electric pool vehicles and charging infrastructure be organized at Berlin’s supply and disposal companies? This question was addressed by the Smart eFleets research project. For the first time, solutions were developed for optimizing vehicle dispatching, charging and load management processes in companies with large electric fleets.

Sharing is the future of electromobility

The further development of electromobility is an important component of the energy transition. As part of the Smart eFleets project, we researched, developed and tested solution approaches for cross-company vehicle and charging infrastructure sharing together with well-known partners – taking into account energy management at municipal supply and disposal companies. In doing so, we wanted to demonstrate that the capital costs, both for the e-vehicles and for the charging infrastructure at the public companies, can be reduced if a joint pooling concept covers the peak loads of the participating companies in a cost-efficient way and if the already existing charging infrastructure is shared.

Sharing across companies

Period

July 2019 until December 2022

Destination

E-mobility should be more efficient to use by sharing company fleets and charging infrastructure, and make significant contributions to climate and environmental protection as well as reducing local emissions

Result

Development and testing of novel pooling and sharing approaches as well as a data platform in the e-mobility sector.

Efficient use of electromobility

A central aspect of the project was the efficient use of our CaranoCloud booking portal. The software enables the booking and use of vehicles across different companies and locations. The booking, which can be made either via a web application or a smartphone app, takes into account both the rider’s needs and the state of charge. Based on this data, the charging processes can be controlled in such a targeted manner that only sufficiently charged e-vehicles are available for the trips. At the same time, this can also minimize investments in the expansion of the power grid. The software also integrates third-party systems for flexible vehicle access or the use of telematics data. Access to vehicles without keys is via smartphone app through Witte Digital’s flinkey box, even without an internet connection. In the course of the project, additional locations were gradually integrated into the sharing concept and the number of vehicles in the model test was significantly increased to 124. In the final phase of the project, the operating concept was adapted so that it can also serve as a solution for other organizations and companies such as municipal businesses, other industries and independent commercial enterprises.

Project partner

We will be happy to advise you on our products and discuss the individual requirements of your fleet together.

Optimization potential Smart eFleets

The fleets of the participating companies had different vehicle usage patterns, for example, due to time-of-day-specific or even seasonal characteristics. This results in special requirements for the coordination of the vehicle fleet. As a rule, routine trips can be covered with a basic stock of vehicles, yet additional vehicles are kept in all fleets for peak times as well as critical operations. One goal of Smart eFleets was to forecast the number of vehicles in the fleet so that peak demand could be reduced. Due to the different time-of-day rhythms, charging management can be more broadly timed. Among other things, this makes it possible to charge e-vehicles across companies alternately at the same charging station without any overlaps. In a continuous exchange within the consortium, the utilization of the vehicle pool as well as the charging infrastructure of the Berlin supply and disposal companies were analyzed and successively improved. One aspect of the project also considered environmental issues associated with fleet electrification. E-fleets, and in particular e-fleets used across companies, make an important contribution to corporate car sharing that is both sustainable and economical.

Smart eFleets Milestones

Recording and continuous evaluation of the requirements for processes, billing-relevant information, tariff models, data sources and car sharing software from a municipal perspective.
Successful use of CaranoCloud software as a common booking platform
Design of a prototypical system architecture and the networking of the different enterprise systems including charging and energy management systems.
Design of cross-enterprise models for charging and load management that also take into account the challenge of charging bookings vs. continuous charging station forecasting.

Our other research projects

Smart integration of e-vehicles into the fleet

Optimize energy costs through on-demand charging of the e-fleet

cloud solution for e-vehicle fleets across company boundaries

The central questions surrounding electromobility in vehicle fleets

The research project was divided into a total of five thematic blocks that answer various questions:

What legal, statutory and contractual framework conditions must be in place for cross-company use?

What are the legal challenges of collaborative fleet use?
How can certain contractual arrangements help ensure smooth operation of the shared fleet and charging infrastructure?
What billing and process patterns can support the goals of the project?

What technical concepts must be in place to create a system architecture for fleet and charging management?

What applications and interfaces must a booking platform for fleets and charging infrastructure include?

How can the integration of already existing IT systems and data of the different companies take place in one platform?

How can existing processes be optimized for effective energy management?

How can forecast data be generated in a dynamic environment?
How can charging and payment models be developed to encourage vehicle users to charge electric vehicles during off-peak hours?
How can it be ensured that the legal requirements regarding logging of roaming and tariffing are met?

How can vehicle demand be reduced and can the share of electrified vehicles be increased?

How can vehicle demand be determined at peak times?
What results can be obtained to increase the degree of electrification?
How can usage patterns and daily driving distances be transferred from conventional vehicles to electric vehicles?
How can the utilization rate of the fleet be increased through shared use?

Which operator models make sense for cross-company use of e-vehicles and a charging infrastructure?

Which measures for operational safety and risk considerations can be derived?
What are the requirements for the booking and billing platform so that it can be used across companies?
What insights into fleet software failure management can be gained?
How can possible contingency models be made economically viable?

Would you like to learn more about our software solutions?

We will be happy to support you at any time – from a no-obligation initial consultation to expert support, on the phone, in person or online.

Fleet knowledge

On our blog you will find helpful and interesting advice articles on the most important topics for managing your fleet.

Free webinars

In our webinars, we inform you about the Carano product world and impart knowledge about successful fleet management.

The newsletter for
Fleet Decision Maker!

Subscribe to the Carano newsletter now and receive the latest news from the fleet industry directly in your mailbox!

"*" indicates required fields