Monitoring and analysis: Fleetboard offers an whole range of digital services for the eActros. Electric vehicle specialist Mariyah Janjua explains how these services work.
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Transport Magazine
Optimise deployment.
The digital service portfolio for the eActros.
Real‑time updates.
Mariyah Janjua, we’re talking about Fleetboard. How do your telematics services help drivers and contractors?
Fleetboard gives companies, fleet managers and drivers the tools they need to make the most of their vehicles. We have adapted the Mapping, Logbook and Mercedes‑Benz Uptime services within the Fleetboard Portal and completely redeveloped Charge Management. This is a special service for electric vehicles that makes the whole charging process transparent.
Charge Management assists users before a trip, Mapping and Mercedes‑Benz Uptime help them during the trip and the Digital Logbook supports users afterwards.
What are the strengths of the Charge Management service?
We developed Charge Management to give our customers full transparency regarding their charging processes. Customers can see which charging activities have taken place or are currently ongoing. They receive real‑time information on battery status, charging time and energy consumption. And any faults that occur during charging are also reported.
Furthermore, customers can time charging to suit the route requirements. For example: if power is cheap at night, charging will mainly take place over night and a charging block will be applied during the day due to higher electricity prices. Customers can also control their charging station remotely right down to the individual plug.
So the eActros is driving along: does Fleetboard provide support during a trip?
The Mapping service allows back office staff to respond to what’s happening on the road in real time. A map shows where the vehicle is located, whether it is parked or charged and other specific electric vehicle details, such as the exact battery status and remaining range.
We have adapted Mercedes‑Benz Uptime specifically for the eActros. As with the combustion engine version, all important vehicle data is continuously transmitted and diagnosed. This makes it easier to organise workshop visits for servicing and maintenance and avoid unplanned downtime.
“The dispatcher receives a full dataset for every vehicle every 30 seconds.”
How often is the vehicle data updated?
The fleet manager receives a complete vehicle data update every 30 seconds. This is particularly useful when we consider how the eActros is used: accidents happen on the roads, there are roadworks and traffic jams. With the right tools, dispatchers can react in real time and make good decisions about the next sections of the route.
And what analysis options are provided?
After the trip, the Logbook service shows the fleet manager all the details of the journey. For example, they can view the battery state over a certain period, the weight of the vehicle or changes in interior and exterior temperatures; in other words, all factors that influence the battery status and so also the range. The objective is to enable fleet managers and dispatchers to fully exploit their vehicles’ potential.
Does the system also support drivers?
We wanted to enable drivers to improve their driving style, i.e. to drive more safely and efficiently. Fleetboard ECO‑Support does this job. It gives the driver real‑time information, for example on optimised use of the auxiliary brake so that the vehicle can recuperate energy. After the trip is ended, drivers can call up an overview of their ECO‑Score broken down into the areas of Acceleration, Braking, Roll/Brake and Evenly.
Contractors, dispatchers, drivers – we want our Fleetboard services to meet everyone’s needs and provide the best possible support.
Photos & video: Jan Potente