Asthma NZ takes it’s fleet electric
Securing funding for electric vehicles Asthma NZ wanted to confirm the benefits of going electric, both in efficiency and emission savings as well as ensuring that their drivers were confident in their journeys. This was made possible with DirectTrack and the GeoTab EV management solution.
Fleet profile
Company:
Asthma New Zealand
Industry:
Health education, training and support
Based in:
North Island
Types of vehicles:
Nissan Leaf EV
Fleet size:
Eight (BEVs)
Solution:
- EV Suitability Assessment (EVSA)
- Directtrack Portal Dashboard
- Geotab Device
- Panic Buttons
Fleet focus:
- Reduce Carbon Emissions
- Environmental Sustainability
- Driver Safety
- Cost Savings
THE CHALLENGE
Asthma NZ is a not-for-profit organisation committed to creating a New Zealand that can breathe easy. Asthma NZ received funding from the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority (EECA) for a fleet of eight second-hand Nissan Leaf electric cars as a carbon reduction project.
These were the first electric vehicles for Asthma NZ and their main objectives were:
- Reporting on efficiencies and carbon savings – to show a good return on the investment.
- Safety of their drivers – providing the best route, battery status and nearest charging station for the journey; being able to monitor where drivers are in real-time and for nurses to be able to notify the office for help in high risk situations.
- Vehicle efficiency – being able to monitor the vehicle and driver behaviour and be able to suggest future improvements for additional savings.
THE SOLUTION
DirectTrack and Asthma NZ worked closely together to ensure best practise management of Asthma NZ’s EV vehicles by;
- Setting up the custom management portal and dashboard to enable easy, and real-time visual monitoring and reporting of the EV fleet.
- Installing the GeoTab devices into the vehicle’s diagnostic port to provide detailed information which maximises performance, safety and carbon savings
- Installing Panic buttons on the dashboards for nurses to alert the office if in a high risk situation.
DRIVERS RANGE ANXIETY
To alleviate concerns drivers have around range anxiety they have access to the portal dashboard where they can see the state of charge on their vehicle as well as ChargeNet’s (NZ’s largest EV charging point infrastructure) 355 charging points. When traveling long distances, trip planning also decreases driver anxiety through route optimisation. This solution plots each trip, showing charging points on route and suggesting when and where to stop and for how long if charging is required.
THE RESULTS
Part of the EECA funding requirement is reporting on the carbon emission saving.
In GeoTab, the Green Fleet Dashboard provides fleet and sustainability managers with an easy tool to monitor their efforts in reducing charging cost and emissions and evaluate environmental performance over time.
There is also a user friendly, customisable visual dashboard, with a choice from hundreds of data points, for Fleet Managers that highlights all the main areas of concern for Asthma NZ.
This data allows Asthma NZ to determine efficiencies throughout the fleet to maximise the vehicle battery life and therefore resale value increasing your bottom line savings. Two such areas being monitored are:
- Driver behaviour – encouraging positive driver engagement and to get the most out of the EVs.
- Monitoring the charging behaviour – to optimise battery life and therefore vehicle value.
This is green fields technology and by having reliable data, data driven decision can be made to adopt best practise to maximise the fleet utilisation and optimisation. Asthma NZ can now manage their EV fleet in real-time and implement change to get the best value from their EVs and drivers.
“Geotab telematics data is critical because it helps us understand our vehicles’ daily use profile and ensure we are getting the best use out of them. Also, we can easily see our carbon savings which is a key undertaking for us and our customers, for a breathe easy New Zealand.”
Katheren Leitner
CEO Asthma NZ
