Fleet industry digs for gems as car makers release glut of data

Fleet industry suppliers are beginning to whittle down swathes of data from connected cars as access to more manageable figures becomes available en masse for the first time. It follows a move from a large proportion of manufacturers that are now said to be more open to sharing vehicle figures because they see the commercial value in doing so. However, the sheer volume of information and the breadth of metrics means suppliers need to dig deeper for credible data-based business models, especially when it comes to car usage. “[Car makers previously] would offer this massive data package, which was fantastic if you wanted to know that Driver A had gone from A to B at 76mph on average,” said Tim Meadows, COO at fleet software specialist Epyx. "[But] from a leasing company’s perspective, that’s not what they need. So I think the OEMs have now come to realise that they need to break these data packages down into more manageable pieces. “Also, the cost of that data has been prohibitive, historically, to enable the [leasing companies] to take it up. They're in a very competitive marketplace, where they could lose a deal by £50 a month.” Epyx – which said more than 76% of ICE vehicles and more than 94% of EVs registered on its 1Link platform in 2022 were connected vehicles – has conducted trials with “thousands” of fleet vehicles to establish what can be drawn from the data. Meadows suggested the most valuable intel could be used to illuminate a vehicle’s condition and track adherence to service schedules during its time on a lease, with the aim of greater transparency and better maintenance. “What they need is the codes on the vehicle that say ‘is there a warning light on?' and 'what’s the mileage?’,” he explained. “Leasing companies have very little visibility of their vehicles, and what the trial is showing us is that [some] vehicles are well over the mileage from a service perspective. A number of vehicles had service lights on for a period of time but then had the work done, and there were even some where the service lights had come on and then gone off again [without recorded maintenance work]. "‘Who has paid for it?’ is the question there. It should be the leasing company, but has the driver paid for it themselves unwittingly or is there anything there that make you wonder why the light has just gone off?” Meadows’ comments were echoed by Thomas Smith, UK country manager at Targa Telematics, who said data could also be used to highlight ageing fleet vehicles on extended contracts, along with other time and maintenance-based parameters. “If I [as a leasing company] am going to have that vehicle away for longer, I’m going to need to be alerted when it hits these key milestones, because I might not see it for 48/60 months. “Some of the manufacturers are effectively providing warning signals to say ‘this is due a service', 'this is due maintenance'. Sometimes it’s mileage, sometimes it’s something more interesting. In the construction industry, it’s often based on something like engine [running] hours.”