Home Knowledge 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 utilities and waste disposal companies? The Smart eFleets research project addressed this question. For the first time, solutions were developed for optimizing the processes of vehicle scheduling, charging and load management 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 solutions for cross-company vehicle and charging infrastructure sharing together with renowned partners – taking into account energy management at municipal utilities and waste disposal companies. Our aim was to show that the capital costs for both the electric vehicles and the charging infrastructure at public companies can be reduced if a joint pooling concept covers the peak loads of the participating companies cost-effectively and the 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. When booking, which can be done either via a web application or a smartphone app, both the driver’s requirements and the charging status are taken into account. 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 journeys. At the same time, investments in the expansion of the power grid can be minimized. The software also integrates third-party systems for flexible vehicle access or the use of telematics data. Vehicles can be accessed without a key via a smartphone app using the flinkey Box from Witte Digital, even without an internet connection. Over the course of the project, additional locations were gradually integrated into the sharing concept and the number of vehicles in the pilot project 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 sectors 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 daily or seasonal characteristics. This results in special requirements for the coordination of the vehicle fleet. As a rule, routine journeys can be covered with a basic stock of vehicles, but additional vehicles are kept available in all fleets for peak times and critical operations. One aim of Smart eFleets was to forecast the number of vehicles in the fleet in such a way that peak demand can be reduced. Due to the different time-of-day rhythms, charging management can be extended in terms of time. For example, it is possible to alternately charge electric vehicles across companies at the same charging station without overlaps. The capacity utilization of the vehicle pool and the charging infrastructure of Berlin’s utilities and waste disposal companies were analysed and successively improved in a continuous exchange within the consortium. One aspect of the project also considered ecological issues associated with the electrification of the fleet. E-fleets, and in particular cross-company e-fleets, make an important contribution to sustainable and economical corporate car sharing.

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?

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