France: How to Save 1.25 Million Tons of CO2 Per Year.

In France, fleet vehicles travel 754 million kilometers a year — 4.7 billion liters of fuel, or 12.5 million tons of CO2 emitted. Those are the figures from the study “Vehicle Fleets of Legal Entities” by the Ministry for Ecological Transition, published in 2019 — the equivalent of the annual emissions of a country like Senegal. In other words, through better fleet management, companies hold a major lever for climate action.

To reduce a fleet’s consumption and emissions, you first need to track vehicle usage — and the fuel or electricity they burn — precisely. Only such tracking can drive corrective action. To that end, the data generated by the sensors in newer vehicles is collected by Echoes and surfaced in the CarFleet tool, serving fleet managers and cost control.

Up to 25% fuel savings possible

There are many ways to influence consumption:

• Reduce your speed. Lowering it from 130 to 120 km/h on the highway cuts fuel consumption and emissions by 12.5%, according to ADEME (the French Agency for Ecological Transition).
• Preserve aerodynamics. Body damage or add-on accessories (roof racks, bike racks, etc.) can add up to 10% more fuel consumption.
• Check tire pressure. Tires inflated 0.5 bar below the recommended level mean 2.4% more consumption, according to Le Figaro.
• Charge plug-in hybrids. Without regularly charging the traction battery from the mains, consumption rises needlessly.

Combining all these levers, the reduction in consumption and emissions could reach at least 25%, provided vehicles are closely monitored.

Crucial information, now that the CSRD requires companies to file non-financial reports describing their CO2-reduction strategy.

Real-time data to help cut consumption

Echoes’ CarFleet solution relies on real-time data transmitted natively by the vehicles to the manufacturer via an onboard 4G/5G chip. No device installation is required, nor any work on the vehicle: transmission can start immediately after the contract is signed. This data is generated by the many sensors in modern vehicles, from the odometer to the flow meter, via the speedometer or the traction battery’s charge level.

Consolidated in a dedicated interface, this data can be analyzed and exported for analysis. Over a time period defined by the user, and for each connected vehicle, it includes:

• Detailed trip history: distance traveled and average speed.
• Average and total consumption of each vehicle, in liters of fuel or kWh of electricity, along with direct CO2 emissions.
• Vehicle condition and maintenance: tire-pressure alerts, post-accident alerts, and more.

Analyze, act and measure with CarFleet

With this tool, the fleet manager tracks and monitors the fleet’s consumption day by day, with a historical view that reveals the trend. Specifically, CarFleet makes it possible to:

1. Measure the fleet’s consumption and emissions, while spotting vehicles and/or drivers with abnormally high figures.
2. Analyze the behavior of the vehicles behind this excessive consumption and determine its cause.
3. Act on the vehicles concerned, or reach out to the drivers to encourage them to slow down.
4. Track the action plan’s results day by day and communicate them, internally and externally.

Tomorrow: smarter, more frugal cars

In the near future, it will be possible to go further in optimizing company-vehicle journeys, thanks to several CarFleet advances that Echoes is currently investing in:

• Driver-behavior analysis (acceleration and braking intensity), to detect aggressive driving that harms the vehicle and its consumption.
• Passenger-count awareness, via seatbelt sensors: a way to analyze consumption and emissions against occupancy, and to promote carpooling.
• AI-powered trip analysis, to optimize schedules, routes, speed and electric charging.

While we await these developments, CarFleet already delivers concrete analysis and action for vehicle fleets today — with no device to install, no commitment and no subscription.