Lightfoot partnership enhances EV data insights
Drax Electric Vehicles has partnered with fleet management solution provider, Lightfoot, to boost its end-to-end electrification service.
“We’re already able to support organisations with planning, installing and managing their charging infrastructure investment. Now, by integrating Lightfoot’s advanced fleet management solution with our My Electric Vehicles portal, we’re broadening the ways we provide telematics insight to fleet and facilities managers. Lightfoot’s open-platform telematics technology provides the evidence organisations need to kickstart electrification – and the insights they’ll need to optimise fuel and cost-saving efficiencies.”
Naomi Nye – Head of Sales, Drax Electric Vehicles
Introducing Lightfoot
Lightfoot has designed and manufactured a market-leading fleet management telematics tool. The company’s CEO, Paul Hollick, sees Lightfoot as focusing on three key objectives.
“Firstly, our business delivers next-generation telematics solutions to fleets, empowering them to operate more efficiently and effectively. Secondly, we provide a driver engagement and reward system to incentivise driving behaviours that align with operational efficiency and environmental responsibility. Thirdly, Lightfoot supports businesses with the shift from internal combustion (ICE) vehicles to EVs. Our solutions mean that, when they invest, fleet and facilities managers have access to crucial data on hardware, fleet vehicles and driver behaviours.”
In terms of driver incentivisation, the Lightfoot device delivers real-time feedback to drivers to help them adopt smoother and safer driving habits that maximise vehicle range. By reaching a target efficiency level, drivers can then receive rewards like cash prizes, car track days or spa weekends for driving more efficiently.
Over a quarter of a million drivers currently have a Lightfoot device installed in their vehicle. The company generates over a billion miles worth of data every year.
Mutual benefits
Lightfoot can add Drax to its impressive list of product advocates. With Drax Electric Vehicles’ growing customer base, Lightfoot can expect significant investment in its tried and tested product. As Paul explains, “85% of businesses trialling Lightfoot devices become long-term Lightfoot customers.”
Drax Electric Vehicles offers customers access to its powerful and user-friendly My Electric Vehicles portal. With the partnership in place, Drax recommends Lightfoot devices to populate the portal with valuable, accurate data.
In assessing the viability and potential benefits of fleet electrification, Drax customers and prospects can install Lightfoot devices in their existing ICE vehicles. The data the device generates will help organisations understand journey mileages, daily travel requirements, and the location and duration of dwell periods.
The Lightfoot difference
Lightfoot’s expertise in the telematics industry is based on its combination of technological and psychological understanding.
With a background in automotive engineering, the company’s founders know the ins and outs of drive trains, battery systems and ICE vehicles. They understand the data that separate parts of vehicles can generate and the value it can provide to fleet managers.
But they also recognise how drivers should drive to maximise efficiencies. Their partnership with the University of Bath’s Institute of Advanced Automotive Propulsion has enabled them to grasp the nuances of driver behaviour and win over drivers’ hearts and minds.
This focus on detail and organisational benefits means that they don’t import parts from the Far East Asia and act purely as data merchants. Instead of merely showing fleet managers that a problem exists, Lightfoot devices present next-generation telematics data, tailored to customer requirements. Their proactive approach to engaging and rewarding drivers helps resolve problems rather than just identify them.
The results? Paul’s happy to share them.
“Vehicles with our devices installed experience a reduction in off-the-road ‘downtime’ of up to 45%. Collisions reduce by up to 40% and ‘dangerous driving’ reduces by up to 84%. On top of this, the mileage range of EVs increases by anything up to 15% and there’s a fuel and CO₂ emission saving of up to 15%. We support customers of all sizes. The only criteria we ask is that they want to create a culture of better driving and a greener future.”
Passing on benefits to Drax customers
As Naomi explains, “Drax has long supported customers with telematics-driven insights. Now, by installing Lightfoot devices in their vehicles, Drax customers can enjoy enhanced driving insights, enabling fleet-efficiency optimisation while cutting costs.”
Data’s key in electrification – both to inform investment decisions and to effectively manage hardware and fleet vehicles afterwards.
If organisations are still weighing up the viability – or the potential benefits – of fleet electrification, Lightfoot devices can provide the means for invaluable insights. By showing details about journey lengths, dwell times and driving styles, the device enables comprehensive analysis to show, on a vehicle-by-vehicle basis, whether transitioning to an EV makes business sense.
As well as showing how an EV would cope faced with an existing ICE vehicle’s operational requirements, it can also provide charging-facility intelligence. Knowing more about driving routes, journey distances and drivers’ dwell locations helps determine the best sites for chargers and the charging power required.
To learn more about Lightfoot telematics devices, visit Lightfoot’s website, email info@lightfoot.co.uk or call 01392 340419.
For more information about Drax Electric Vehicles’ end-to-end partnership service and market-leading portal, visit our dedicated website pages.
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