Telematics Triumph: Driving Sustainability in Automotive Innovation

Telematics Triumph: Driving Sustainability in Automotive Innovation

With essential resources rapidly depleting, sustainable solutions are the need of the hour.  The last known quantity left in the oil reservoirs across the globe was 188.8 million tons. At this rate, we will effectively run out of it by the early 2050s.

Using Oil as a major energy source has led to an exponential rise in the production of harmful emissions that has contributed to the rise of the potential catastrophe of climate change. With alternative energy sources for vehicles such as EVs and Hydrogen vehicles being trialed as we speak, the need to sustain our currently precious earthly resource cannot be ignored.

The urgency of the matter is such that the objective of every new, game-changing innovation has been to offer a better user experience while easing up on the environmental impact when compared to its predecessors.

So, how do these innovations fulfill their goal of reducing environmental impact? Well, the answer is specific to each use case. But, if we had to generalize it, creating a product that helped curb emissions and increase the durability of its associated product would be a win-win!

Through this article, we will be shedding light upon the one such solution that is an unsung hero of the automotive industry, telematics – quietly serving its purpose of making vehicles more sustainable by doing the following:

• Reducing vehicle emissions
• Extending the automobile’s life through predictive maintenance

Raising awareness about Sustainability Goals using Telematics

In 2015, The United Nations Member States adopted 17 Sustainable Development Goals. Out of these 17 Goals, SDG 12 – Ensure Sustainable Consumption and Production Patterns and SDG 13 – Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts hold great importance to this study.

SDG 12 – Ensure Sustainable Consumption and Production Patterns

• Target 12.2 in SDG 12 indicates the member states’ agreement to achieve sustainable management and efficient use of natural resources.
• Target 12.5 aims towards substantially reducing waste generation through prevention reduction, recycling, and reuse.

SDG 13 – Take Urgent Action to Combat Climate Change

• Target 13.3 identifies the need for education, awareness-raising, and human and institutional capacity on climate change mitigation, adaptation, impact reduction, and early warning.
• Target 13.2 stresses integrating climate change measures into national policies, strategies, and planning.

From SDG 12 & 13, we understand the growing need to adopt measures to curb pollution and erratic resource consumption to avoid impending doom.

An industry that is evolving for the betterment of our environment by constantly integrating innovations is the automotive industry.

How Does Telematics Help Spread Awareness About Sustainable Goals?

Telematic devices generate heaps of meaningful data. The commonly known telematic devices are onboard diagnostic devices (OBD), tachographs from OEMs, driver smartphones, and black boxes. Data generated is used by automotive manufacturers, insurance providers, and fleet managers to track driver behavior. Using telematics reports generated by the automotive industry, local governing bodies and national governments can:

• Gain insights into the mobility practices in the urban regions most prone to generate emissions. The parameters used to describe urban mobility are average speed, traffic flow, travel time, frequency of travel during different hours of the day, vehicular emissions, travel demand, and access to public transport.
• Authoritative bodies can construct better transport roads and infrastructure to reduce traffic congestion.

Driving Sustainability: Reducing Fuel Consumption and Vehicle Emissions, the Telematics Way

Carbon neutrality is the most widely used term for emission control. A country or a company is carbon neutral if it performs enough activities to remove the CO2 it produces from the atmosphere. Attaining carbon neutrality or net zero emissions is a major talking point for leaders of the modern world in sustainability summits. With automobiles alone contributing up to 16.2% of global CO2 emissions, integrating solutions that curb these emissions is the need of the hour.

Figure 1: Vehicle Emissions in Million Metric Tons of CO2 equivalent vs Countries

With vehicle emissions seen soaring as per Figure 1, economic powerhouses with technological capabilities need to set an example so that the rest follow suit. Telematics can play a huge role in helping curb emissions produced by automobiles in the following ways:

Route Optimization

• Communication channels such as V2V – Vehicle to Vehicle and V2E- Vehicle to Everything have made route optimization possible!
• With distance and time being the critical factors in deciding the best route for travel, telematics can help drivers in decision-making.
• These decisions help manage fuel consumption by reducing the overall distance travelled.
• Telematics aids drivers in making dynamic adjustments to their preferred journey routes by considering factors such as traffic fluctuations, accidents, and road closures.
• Fleet managers can generate reports on the vehicle’s environmental performance and provide the driver with suggestions on appropriate corrective actions.

Idle vehicle – An air pollution workshop

• Idling is a noteworthy culprit in emitting large amounts of emissions.
• Vehicles stuck in traffic jams and red lights contribute up to 40% more pollutants than vehicles that are moving.
• Idling automobiles alone contribute up to 30 million tons of CO2 annually in the US alone.
• An ideal solution to this is turning off the engine after 10-12 seconds of idle time as restarting the vehicle utilizes the same amount of fuel required for it to stay in the idling condition.
• Private vehicle owners and fleet managers can retrieve idling reports to identify if excessive fuel is being wasted.
• Fleet managers can reward drivers for reduced idling.

Traffic Control Through Telematics

The Urban Traffic Control authorities can utilize historical traffic data and the data from the existing traffic generated by the telematic systems to arrive at a more cohesive and sustainable traffic management strategy that is favorable to all.

With known reservoirs of fossil fuels running dry, the prices of their by-products are ever rising. Integrating telematics into the vehicle’s control system will enable communication between the vehicle and its owner. This in turn will help owners play their part in sustaining the current resources for the future!

Using telematics effectively will help reduce fuel consumption and the release of environmentally degrading chemicals into the atmosphere.

Telematics: Expanding Product Lifecycle for a Sustainable Tomorrow

From a sustainability perspective, the age-old practice of servicing vehicles based on mileage and time is not ideal. Replacing components is expensive for both the customer and the environment. Leveraging predictive maintenance, owners and fleet managers will now be aware of the health of each of their vehicle’s components. Staying on top of your automobile’s health leads to early detection of problems that can be fixed with minor tune-ups.

Onboard diagnostics hardware has gained a significant reputation as a sustainability enabler. Telematics enables sustainable practices through On-Board Diagnostics (OBD) devices by:

• Shifting from scheduled to timely and on-demand assessments.
• Enabling vehicle owners to assess vehicle conditions when they choose.
• Facilitating timely intervention to address emerging issues.

In return, this enables sustainable practices by:

• Reducing material wastage.
• Mitigating the environmental impact linked to scrapping the replaced components.
• Aligning with the global effort to conserve resources.

By enabling timely intervention using this smart feature, vehicles can cut down on additional emissions produced by problematic components and extend the life of their assets. Apart from cutting down on emissions, predictive maintenance reduces material waste by giving the components a new life by early identification of the problem.

Conclusion:

In alignment with the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals, telematics contributes to achieving targets related to sustainable consumption, efficient resource management, and urgent action against climate change. By spreading awareness about these goals and fostering a culture of eco-friendly practices, telematics becomes a catalyst for positive change.

The automotive industry, by embracing innovations like telematics, sets a precedent for a future where smart solutions are integral to reducing carbon footprints. With telematics steering us toward greener and more sustainable roads, it’s clear that technology, when harnessed responsibly, can be a driving force for a healthier planet.

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