8-9 October 2024
NEC, Birmingham
NEC, Birmingham
The Tomorrow’s Fleet Zone was a brand new feature to Fleet Live 2019, allowing visitors to experience the future of fleet management first-hand.Visitors stepped onto the purpose-built street of the future, ‘Electric Avenue’, to enter the world of the autonomous vehicle, innovative electric vehicle charging solutions, mobility apps, and other future products and services. They had the opportunity to touch and see some of these and ask questions from the experts behind the technologies as they walked along Electric Avenue.
The POD was on a static demo display and the Westfield team were on hand on both days to give a video demo and explain how the technology works, as well as answer any questions on how autonomous technology will fit into the future of fleet.
The POD is the UK’s first fully autonomous vehicle for first mile – last mile transportation. The PODs can platoon together autonomously and they were developed in conjunction with Heathrow Airport.The original system has now completed over five million kilometres in a live commercial environment serving Heathrow Airport Terminal 5 POD Parking.
Last mile delivery electric cargo bikesVisitors were able to experience award winning electric cargo bikes, The Douze G4e, to prompt discussion on how they could help fleets tackle last mile deliveries in city centre locations. The G4e features a 270 litres secure load space and is powered by a lithium-ion graphene battery with a total output of 1270 watts. The bike can reach a top speed of 15.5mph.
Representatives from London Green Cycles, one of two UK approved stockists for the G4e, were on hand to show off the bikes on the Tomorrow’s Fleet stand in Hall 20. The French-made G4e recently won Transport for London’s (TfL) inaugural competition to find the best cargo bikes for sustainable business deliveries and was revealed as the Best Cargo Bike - Business Category.
The team from Centrica were on hand to speak about its experiences with switching to electric vehicles with its fleet and its part in the Optimise Prime commercial vehicle trial project. Centrica’s fleet, including British Gas, has already completed 1.5 million electric miles so far.
Centrica’s Mobility ventures team were available to talk with delegates about developments with technology and data around charging infrastructure solutions too. Its ambition is to work with fleet operators including buses, taxis and commercial fleets in depot and return to home tech solutions.
Chris Jackson, Centrica head of electric vehicle strategy for fleets, were on stand with his team to open up a dialogue with fleets on their electric fleet transition.
BP Chargemaster's charging offering to fleetsUpdate BP Chargemaster listing: BP Chargemaster is the UK’s biggest name in electric vehicle charging- trusted by thousands of owners, businesses and council across the UK.
We operate Polar, the largest public electric vehicle charging network in the UK, with more than 7,000 charging points, and provide an innovative range of home, workplace and public charging solutions.
Working in partnership with BP Fuel Cards and BP forecourts we help provide a comprehensive solution for Fleets transitioning to electric vehicles. Our nationwide Polar network has fleet drivers covered on the road, including roll out of ultra-fast 150kW chargers at BP forecourts over the next few years. Meanwhile for home and workplace charging solutions we offer the best quality products with an end-to-end service.
We spoke at the Tomorrow’s Fleet are of Fleet Live discussing how we can help your fleet flourish in an electrified future.
Allstar Business Solutions were participating in the Tomorrow’s Fleet Zone this year to talk with delegates about the launch of its electric vehicle charging payment solutions – Allstar One Electric. The payment solution combines the benefits of the One card with the ability to pay for electric vehicle charging across a multi-branded electric charging network. Allstar has also put together a White Paper called Navigating the Alternatively Fuelled Future to help unpick the difficulties some fleets are finding with managing vehicle charging and the team were on stand to prompt discussion on the topic at Fleet Live.
Paul Holland, MD, UK Fuel at FLEETCOR, commented: “Those managing fleets that combine petrol, diesel and electric vehicles are faced with many challenges, needing to manage multiple accounts and payment methods to ensure their fleet has access to a convenient network for all its refuelling needs. On top of this, they are met by varying account structures, different pricing, separate invoicing and reporting, leading to a lot of administration that leaves fleet managers and owners without the necessary controls to run their business. With our card, we want to ensure our customers are supported with convenient payment solutions to keep their vehicles on the road.”
Allstar has already signed up with four charging providers and is working on adding more to expand its coverage.
It means fleets will be able to track information like cost per charge and mileage per charge to feed into tracking how plug-in vehicles are performing for their business and where changes or improvements are needed.
Allstar has put together a White Paper called Navigating the Alternatively Fuelled Future to help unpick the difficulties some fleets are finding with managing vehicle charging and the team were on stand to prompt discussion on the topic at Fleet Live.
The Allstar team were out in force at Fleet Live this year with stands at Tomorrow’s Fleet as well as its own stand at the NEC to speak with delegates about EV charging, fuel and expense management and service maintenance and repair.
The i3 is the model that kick-started BMW’s electric revolution and acted as the first pure electric vehicle fleets and drivers would have experienced from the brand. The 2019 i3 model were on stand at Tomorrow’s Fleet to represent where BMW has come from with its EV strategy and to point to the future with its plans to have five new EVs in the next two years, including the next generation of i models including the iX3, iNEXT and i4. BMW Group will also make fleet show debuts with its Mini Electric, BMW 330e and 120d xDrive M Sport at its own stand at Fleet Live.
EAV is a disruptive technology e-vehicle production company challenging businesses on their last mile strategies. Their innovative EAVan bridges the gap between LCVs and eCargo bikes. Delegates were able to speak with the EAV team and explore the EAVan quadracycle, which takes the concept of an ecargo bike but adds LCV standard lights, load ratings, braking capabilities, a secure cargo storage system and a fully modular design for multiple applications.
Vodafone Business and headline sponsor of Fleet Live Geotab have agreed a strategic collaboration to bring a new fleet management offering to customers and were on-hand at the show to speak with delegates all about it. The partnership combines Vodafone’s automotive connectivity and service delivery capabilities, its leadership in vehicle safety and security, and expertise in device manufacturing, with Geotab’s open fleet telematics platform to create Vodafone Business Fleet Analytics. This will give customers access to vehicle data and actionable insights, enabling them to create new mobility services, optimise asset usage, as well as improve employee safety and security.