Think of the roads with fewer greenhouse gasses to breathe and extra money saved on fuel costs. Isn’t it overwhelming upside down? Since the launch of electric vehicles in the consumer market, it is possible. They are greener and more affordable substitutes for traditional automobiles. 

However, managing EVs is still a hard nut to crack. The credit goes to challenges like range anxiety, unavailability of well-established charging infrastructure, poor mileage performance, and a few more things. Let’s explore these challenges in detail. 

Why Is Managing Electric Vehicles A Challenge?

Although embracing an EV ecosystem is a boon for personal and business uses, some issues still make it a second choice. Here are a few reasons why managing electric vehicles is a challenging task: 

Insufficient EV Charging Infrastructure 

The biggest challenge that electric vehicles face is insufficient charging infrastructure. Unlike the traditional refueling stations where petrol pumps are visible at every spot, EV charging stations are limited. This thing often leads to range anxiety during long-haul travel journeys. 

Moreover, owning EVs is a classic chicken and egg problem. People avoid getting EVs as there is the unavailability of a proper charging system. Same time, fewer EVs on the road leads to limited EV charging slots. 

Mileage Challenges in Extreme Weather Conditions 

An unplugged EV vehicle’s range can be reduced by about 20 per cent in a winter storm. And it takes a longer time to recharge than in warm weather. All these factors result in mileage challenges during long-haul journeys where the driver is clueless about random weather conditions like fog or snowfall. 

All in all, it’s still difficult to predict how much speed limit the driver should maintain to overcome mileage challenges in extreme weather conditions or at high altitude regions. 

Payload Judgment Difficulties in Electric Fleets 

Another issue with electric vehicles is the payload judgment difficulties a fleet management company might face. EVs have a higher weight than traditional fleets due to the attached batteries. Thus, its payload potentially reduces up to 200-400 Kg. It means the fleet manager needs to be vigilant while loading goods in an electric fleet. 

But how to judge the weight of the fleets one needs to load to avoid heavy penalties, accidents, or impounds? Well, that’s another challenge we have to deal with. 

Higher Upfront Cost 

One more reason why most people hesitate before opting for electric vehicles is their higher upfront purchase cost. Although EVs are gradually becoming affordable, their resale value is still unknown. And what’s the reason? Well, it’s the financing challenges like low loan-to-value ratios, higher interest and insurance rates, etc. All these obstacles still limit buyers from choosing EVs. 

Re-routing Complications in Unpredictable Conditions 

Sometimes, it is obvious to change routes because of uncertain situations like blocked roads, heavy traffic, extreme weather conditions, etc. However, you won’t dare to do it while driving an electric vehicle. You’ll always worry if the other route has an EV charging slot or if your electric vehicle can cover extra miles. Indeed, re-routing complications are another issue with EVs that we can’t ignore. But what’s the solution? 

How Telematics Combat EV Challenges For Tying The EV Ecosystem Together? 

Now, you can understand why owning and managing electric vehicles is still a challenge. But have you ever thought about the solutions to combat these EV challenges? No? Well, telematics is the key. You can effortlessly monitor your EV batteries across the vehicle fleets directly from a cloud server through telematics. Let’s explore in detail how telematics ties the EV Ecosystem together. 

Encourages A Better Battery Life & Charging System 

As we discussed earlier, the most challenging role while managing electric vehicles is to monitor the state of charge (SoC). With data-driven telematics software, you can detect and analyse the charge cycle of your EV for ensuring better EV battery life. Furthermore, it will help you establish a swappable battery network in case of the unavailability of a charging station in a particular route. 

Location Intelligence System for Re-routing Complications 

Telematics enables a location intelligence system to allow you to avoid heavy traffic. And with this, you can always go for alternative journeys with accessible EV charging stations. It’s possible with a forecasted traffic management system that predicts data through route analysis. Undeniably, EV telematics-connected vehicles are the best solutions for dealing with range anxiety during unpredictable re-routing conditions. 

Leverages Affordable Financing Options  

Remember the discussed limitations of financing options in electric vehicles? Telematics effortlessly resolves this problem. EV owners can easily deduce the health of the asset from Telematics data. Consequently, it will add a genuine resale value to the vehicles and encourage affordable financing options. 

Convenience Of Custom Alerts For Payload Rules Violation 

Remember we told you about the payload prediction difficulties in EVs if you run a fleet management company? Well, you can chuck off these hurdles with telematics-enabled custom alerts. So, you will always get a notification whenever you violate the payload rules during the loading process. It happens due to the fully customizable alerts programmed with various data generated by the electric fleet. 

Improved Mileage Performance In Various Climate Conditions 

Telematics for electric vehicles ensures improved mileage performance in different climatic situations. It uses real-time battery data to offer analytical insights to track vital parameters such as current and temperature. As a result, it gives you analytics for best charging performance practices that lead to a reduction in battery breakdowns. 

A Proper System For Diagnosing Issues 

When repairing EV batteries is still like giving 110% due to fewer EV workstations, telematics is an advantage. OEM engineers can gather the field usage information remotely to diagnose the problems quickly. Thanks to OTA updates that OEMs receive while managing batteries remotely. All this can help you avoid last-minute misfunctioning in EVs during delivery services or fleet management operations. 

Summing it up, 

Undeniably, EV telematics solutions are a helpful asset for allowing you to track your EV ecosystem. Hence, you can always stay assured when it comes to improved fleet utilization, charging optimization, enhanced battery life, and whatnot. Telematics will always help your business in troubleshooting your EV modules remotely. 

However, all telematics services aren’t EV friendly. So, while choosing a telematics provider make sure they are capable of developing a system specific to your EV model. The experts at Zeliot support telematics for the broadest range of electric vehicle models and that too without compromising on data accuracy.