Back

3 Advantages of The Intelligent Company Car Fleet

23 October 2017

The typical, everyday car has looked much the same since the times of the Model T. Performance and efficiency has improved, but it’s still not much more than a tin can on four wheels.

It seems the structure and aesthetics of a vehicle has reached the height of its innovation. But its evolution doesn’t stop there. Now, the automobile is moving on from being mostly about its hardware and what’s under the bonnet, to the technology in the cab and the software it runs.

Enter a new wave in vehicle innovation: connected and autonomous vehicles (CAVs). These vehicles are hooked up to the Internet of Things (IoT) and come equipped with various features and degrees of autonomous capabilities.

CAVs offer many advantages for individuals, but they’re particularly beneficial for companies that run a slew of vehicles. Here are three of the main reasons why CAVs may well be the future of company car fleets.

Connected to the network

Much of the danger of the road is due to the fact it’s made up of lots of separate, independent objects traveling at different speeds and in different manners. Hooking each vehicle up to a united network will bring standardised behaviour across the wider stream, negating much of the chaos and therefore the danger.

For instance, a large number of accidents are caused on motorways when visibility is poor and vehicles hit other vehicles which have already stopped for an incident. But when each car is part of a network, they’ll be able to share information like GPS data and accident reports to help safeguard against such situations.

Vehicles will also interact with their environment, picking up data from roadside sensors and other devices in the IoT to create a detailed picture of their surroundings, helping to avoid congestion and facilitating the smooth flow of vehicles.

New levels of control for fleet operators

As well as a huge reduction in fleet investment, connected vehicles also bring new levels of control and convenience to company fleet managers.

A connected fleet would allow a two-way communication between vehicles and manager, meaning they could be monitored and updated in real-time — without taking them off the road. In this way, new data and insights could be gathered and fed into the overall operating of system, increasing efficiency, reducing downtime, and freeing up resources for other business tasks.

Save costs and valuable working time

Vehicles can already alert us to their parts which are in need of attention or are due for repair. But intelligent vehicles take this a step further, being able to identify faults and check themselves in for services and repairs at local garages.

With this data and connectivity, a fleet can operate more effectively and significantly reduce the chances of being caught out by hidden surprises or unscheduled repairs. This is especially true as autonomous technology will also cut down on human-error and therefore decrease the number of accidents.

Finally, as one flowing unit and not a group of separate vehicles, intelligent fleets would allow companies to practice car sharing schemes effectivity as there is little to no compromise on employee mobility. Car sharing can dramatically reduce the amount of vehicles within a fleet, reducing investment, saving emissions, and slashing maintenance/managerial costs.

If you’d like to find out more about our leasing service or our other fleet management options, leave us a comment or send us a message via our contact page.

Back