The world is on the cusp of a major shift towards sustainable transportation, with electric vehicles (EVs) playing a key role in reducing greenhouse gas emissions and combating climate change.
In India, the emergence and growth of electric vehicles (EVs) have been gaining momentum in recent years. The Indian government is spearheading the EV Revolution by implementing various policies and incentives to promote the adoption of EVs, including subsidies, tax exemptions, and free charging infrastructure.
With an ambitious target of transitioning to 100% EVs by 2030, the government announced the Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of (Hybrid &) Electric Vehicles in India (FAME-I & FAME-II) scheme with an outlay of USD 1.2 billion in 2019, which aimed to provide subsidies for the purchase of EVs and set up charging infrastructure across the country.
This initiative led to faster EV adoption, leading to the exponential growth of EV sales in India, especially post-COVID. For instance, in CY 2022, almost 1 million units of electric vehicles were sold which is almost a 200% growth over CY 2021.
Other crucial factors behind the faster adoption of electric vehicles over the last 3 years include technological advancements, reasonable operational costs, and sustainability initiatives in the corporate sector.
However, the transition to electric mobility comes with its own set of challenges, such as range anxiety, lack of charging infrastructure, and grid management for uninterrupted power supply, to name a few. With the majority of EVs currently being used in B2B space, be it e-comm, food tech, or ride-hailing, it’s imperative to monitor the assets (EVs) on a continuous basis to ensure the battery levels and charging needs and optimize the deployment of the fleet based on real-time demand.
Currently, there are multiple studies underway to find the best possible solutions to these problems. Based on several researches, geospatial technologies are the most accurate and effective way to cater to this.
Role of Geospatial in EV Industry
Geospatial technology involves using tools like geographic information systems, GPS, and remote sensing for real-time tracking and visualization on maps. It is incorporated to solve complex problems related to location and geography. Geospatial technology can be leveraged for better EV fleet management by using geofencing and contact monitoring of vehicle location.
Geofencing is a feature built on top of geospatial technology that allows fleet managers to create virtual boundaries or fences around specific geographic locations. These fences in combination with a telematics unit that is connected to multiple nodes on a vehicle can be used to trigger certain events like immediate immobilization of vehicles when a vehicle enters or exits the boundary. For instance, fleet managers can set up geofencing to notify them when a vehicle enters or leaves a charging station or a restricted area. It can also be used to optimize routes for electric vehicles, ensuring that they take the most efficient route possible without any deviation.
This feature is of utmost importance for fleet operators who are using vehicles used for e-comm, food, and courier deliveries. By using the above information, they can optimize the routes and ensure that electric vehicles are being used as efficiently as possible.
In addition to geofencing and GPS tracking, telematics units can also communicate with Battery Management Systems and other nodes on the vehicles via CAN communication protocol to get information about real-time vehicle health parameters which we can in turn be used for predictive maintenance with the help of ML algorithms. By analyzing data on vehicle usage and performance, fleet managers can identify potential maintenance issues before they become major problems. This can help in reducing downtime, improving safety, and extend the lifespan of electric vehicles.
The majority of OMCs and CPOs are relying heavily on geospatial technology to solve the puzzle of charging infrastructure deployment. GIS can be used to analyze various types of data to identify suitable hotspots for new charging points, such as real estate availability, existing electricity supply systems, and hyperlocal mobility hotspots, including public transportation routes (buses, autos, and cabs) and information about vehicle journeys and traffic. GIS provides a solution for generating a demand-supply matrix for fast and slow charging solutions while considering factors like environment, economy, population density, shopping centers, roads, park areas, land values, etc. to determine apt locations for its fuel stations.
With GIS, effective mapping of existing infrastructure, such as roads and highways, and identify areas where charging stations are needed in order to optimize routes for EVs can also get easier. Using remote sensing, experts can analyze the terrain and other environmental factors to identify locations that are easily accessible and have adequate space for charging stations.
The Way Ahead
Geospatial technologies can prove to be a catalyst for a hassle-free EV ecosystem. However, a critical issue to be addressed even after the usage of geospatial technology is data sharing or having a data repository of all the vehicles running on the road. Currently, all fleet operators/OEMs/end customers are having all the data points related to their vehicles in terms of location, performance, etc., but to make a larger impact and optimize the charging infrastructure deployment all these data points need to be available in a centralized manner for the CPOs and government bodies to use these data points and locate hotspots of all the on-road vehicles and plan the charging infrastructure accordingly.
