The Range & Route planning tool in Volvo Connect, a truck fleet management system and gateway to the trucks digital services, liberates owners of electric trucks from range anxiety – making it easy to plan routes, charging stops, perform waypoint activities and driver breaks. Combined with real-time monitoring of the vehicles, fleet managers can make sure every truck is moving according to plan.
Calculating the energy needed
Many fleet managers feel the need for route planning assistance; To make sure that the electric truck will complete its mission on the current charge level.
“With the service Range & Route on Volvo Connect we help fleet managers calculate the charge needed for their routes,” says Sameer Atluri, product owner of Range & Route at Volvo Group Connected Solutions, a global organization that leads the development of the Volvo Group's connected services and solutions.
Making ownership easy
Sameer is leading a thirteen people strong team at Volvo Group Connected Solutions, located at Lindholmen, Gothenburg dedicated to making electric truck ownership easy through the service Range & Route.
“Our services combine the functionality and reports from other services such as Map Tracking and Battery Inputs and we calculate energy required for a mission through Energy Prediction algorithm, Sameer explains. “This is a tool that can calculate the energy needed for a specified route and the planned route can be shared with the truck. We predict range for electric trucks with superstructures such as hook lift, crane, concrete mixer, refuse compactor, which are also energy consumers.”
Many parameters
Onboard data from the truck is combined with real time traffic data, 7-day weather forecasts, the initial load, and the planned off-loading during the trip.
“The system will give a warning if the planned route doesn't match the charge and recommend replanning to allow for more charging time earlier during the route”, says Sameer.
For the electric truck owners, it is crucial to know that the energy in the truck is sufficient to complete the transport mission. Since there is limited accessibility to charging stations and the time to charge a truck is longer, compared to when you fuel up a diesel truck, it is necessary to also plan the transport mission regarding charging location and charging time. This is where the Range & Route service helps to plan the route so that the transport mission will be successful.
Facts: Range & route service
Volvo Electric Trucks Range & Route is a new service in Volvo Connect, a truck fleet management system and gateway to the trucks digital services. Every new electric truck sold comes with a two-year subscription included to help fleet managers plan their missions with ease and confidence. Range & Route service is available in 30-35 markets with 100s of customers being able to use the service on approximately 5100 electric trucks.
