Anonymised Microlise telematics data, forming part of the 7 billion miles tracked in the UK over the last year, is to be used in a new £100k eight month research project commissioned by the Energy Technologies Institute (ETI).
Anonymised Microlise fuel performance data, forming part of the 7 billion miles tracked in the UK over the last year, is to be used in a new £100k eight month research project commissioned by the Energy Technologies Institute (ETI). The project is being delivered by Element Energy, a Cambridge-based energy consultancy, which will carry out data analysis to understand driving patterns and the real world efficiency of trucks.
Speaking about the project, Element Energy Director Alex Stewart said timing is key with the heavy duty vehicle sector facing “increasing pressure to make deep emissions reductions while continuing to meet operators’ needs”. Stewart added that he is “looking forward to using detailed telematics data to significantly advance the current understanding of real world vehicle use and improve the assessment of fuel use in new truck technologies”.
Heavy Duty Vehicles (HDVs) such as shipping, heavy goods vehicles, construction equipment, and agricultural equipment are responsible for significant consumption of diesel fuel and 20% of total emissions from UK surface transport.
The huge diversity of truck and trailer configurations and usage means predicting real world fuel consumption improvements from new technologies is challenging, despite there being strong benefits to truck users and broader society in deploying more fuel efficient trucks.
Through analysis of Microlise data the aim is to support the ETI as it acts as a conduit between academia, industry and the government to accelerate the development of low carbon technologies. The ultimate goal is to encourage investment in more energy efficient technologies by manufacturers and fleet operators.
At Microlise, our primary role will be to provide cleaned, anonymised fuel performance data alongside market consultancy. We are pleased to be supporting Element Energy which will be analysing the vehicle data to produce a characterisation of both individual vehicles and vehicle fleets. This could be a really fantastic secondary use of our data to realise tangible benefits for operators and the wider industry.
Commenting on the project Leena Tailor, ETI Junior Project Manager said: “Capturing and analysing real world data will ensure that the technologies we are developing to improve fuel efficiency and reduce emissions are more effective and of more value to the industry. The data collected will help measure these modelled improvements and ensure they have a real beneficial impact.”
The International Council on Clean Transportation (ICCT) is also involved in this project. They will be using vehicle simulation tools to validate truck performance algorithms developed by Element Energy.
It’s early days in the project at the moment, but we’ll update you as the project progresses in the coming months.
