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BUSINESS MOTORING
he means by which businesses mobilise their people and products are changing in ways that were unimaginable only a few years ago.
Words Ben Rooth Illustrations Michele Marconi THE FUTURE OF
Breakthroughs in automotive technology are making fl eets cleaner, safer, smarter and, ultimately, more cost-effective. Pure electric vehicles (EVs) are at the heart of the revolution. They are expected to cut both the cost and environmental impact of running a fl eet more than any other recent development. For instance, a business with 10 company vehicles could save £20,000-plus in class-1A national insurance contributions alone over four years if it used EVs instead of petrol cars. Despite such advances, there is still a strong appetite among fl eet operators for further hi-tech innovation to help them address risks ranging from cyber crime to the soaring cost of haulage in an increasingly brittle global economy. Tom Cheesewright, founder of Book of the Future, a consultancy that helps organisations to anticipate tech-driven changes in their markets, divides the recent developments in business motoring into two categories. “The fi rst is about information and the second is about the transport itself,” he says.
While electric vehicles dominate the fleet agenda today, relentless innovation is creating a world of possibilities for greener and smarter options tomorrow. We ask the experts what twists and turns to anticipate on the road ahead
The emergence of the internet of things (IoT) has given fi rms far more intelligence on how their fl eets are performing, all the way down to the habits of individual drivers. “This technology has now fl owed from the largest and most sophisticated companies down to the rest,” Cheesewright says. “The information it provides can be used to improve route planning, asset utilisation and driver behaviour.” When it comes to the second category, “there are more options now, particularly with regard to motive power – whether that’s hybrid, fully electric or something more esoteric – than ever before. This breadth of choice presents a challenge for fl eet operators, which need to balance all the environmental and tax considerations with those of operational performance.” As the pace of change in business motoring shows no sign of slowing, fi rms that seize emerging opportunities could gain a crucial competitive advantage. So what does the future hold for fl eet operators – and how can you stay ahead of the pack?
JUST AROUND THE CORNER The argument has been won: the fl eet world foresees a future dominated by electric powertrains. But we’re not quite there yet. Jonatan Pinkse, professor of
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