Motorq Blog

Connected car data is evolving. It’s richer, more insightful, and more actionable than ever. Much of this progress has happened in the last five years with higher quality data sets emerging from auto manufacturers.

There’s no longer any doubt about the rapid adoption of EVs among fleets — it’s a no-brainer. The case has already been made many times in many places about the lower cost of maintenance, higher utilization (meaning shorter ROI), and reduced cost of electric fuel. But until recently, demand was tempered by the supply of both vehicles and infrastructure.

While the average U.S. consumer drives between 10,000 and 15,000 miles per year, the typical fleet driver averages nearly double that — at 25,000 miles per year. It’s generally accepted that the accident rate for fleets is about 20%. And in terms of miles traveled, the Network of Employers for Traffic Safety reported an average of 5.15 crashes globally per million miles traveled and 0.2 injuries per million miles traveled in the U.S. in 2019.

The typical assumption around electric vehicles is that they cost less because they leave traditional fuel behind.

Industry pundits are referring to vehicles as “iPhones on wheels” as onboard OEM telematics becomes more and more prominent. We might just see an iPhone on wheels in the not-so-distant future. Apple is reportedly ramping up its plans for a fully autonomous electric vehicle.

What’s a fleet manager to do? Container ships are stuck in port harbors, store shelves are laid bare, chip shortages are delaying production, 80,000 more truck drivers are needed and fuel prices are climbing. Getting connected lends cost-saving visibility to so many areas that supply chain challenges have impacted. When production on the ground is less reliable, you don’t want to be left wondering.

It’s been an interesting few weeks in EV-land. Stellantis announced a partnership with Samsung for battery production. Panasonic announced a prototype battery for Tesla. Toyota announced it has earmarked $3.4 billion for battery research. Joann Muller at Axios noted that almost every week there’s another OEM/battery partnership announced.

When we speak to our fleet customers about priorities, one topic frequently rises to the top: sustainability. Whether it’s because of internal/corporate social responsibility commitments or regulations, fleet managers are under pressure to “green” their fleets.

Motorq CEO and co-founder, Arun Rajagopalan, talks with Shannon Keck from Wheels about fleet intelligence related to COVID, EV, emissions and more. Read more below to learn Shannon’s take on the fleet world as it stands today.

COVID-19 upended the way we work, and many of us are still adjusting. According to NCCI, in May 2020, “48.7 million people, about 35% of the employed workforce, reported that they had worked from home in the prior four weeks because of COVID-19.” Of that number, 57% were workers in management and professional occupations.

It turns out that what most of us do reflexively, and the rest of do after the annoying “ding ding ding” warning sound convinces us to click in

As the economy rebounds and as traffic volumes return to pre-Covid levels, so could your risk of a significant loss resulting from an accident involving a fleet vehicle.

While the benefits of connected car data have been well-documented by analysts, case studies, fleet experts and others, the WIIFM (What’s in it for me) from the driver’s perspective has been missing. Or, if it has been told, it’s been through a negative lens (snooping, big-brother, penalties, etc.). As such, there is understandable resistance from drivers to fully embrace connected vehicle data.

In the past two years, there has been much ado about connected cars. Yet if you ask the average person the topic, you’ll likely get a blank stare. Connected to what? Maybe your phone? That’s changing as many OEMs pursue new revenue strategies beyond the car.motor

Chances are, there’s been a time where you’ve avoided switching banks or updating your cell phone carrier even though you know it’s as simple as a few buttons and a phone call, and that it will make your life better. We’re all guilty of procrastinating on big and small changes in technology that can benefit us – both in life and at work.

Earlier this year, as Covid-19 raged and communities around the country took preventive measures, the disruption to every sector of business was significant. Particularly hard hit were industries, like automotive, with complex and expansive supply chains. Whether it was getting raw materials to factories, or getting products from the plant into the market, Covid-19 left its mark.

This post has been a long time coming. I am incredibly proud of what our team has accomplished over the last many months, and we have made significant progress towards our mission. So this felt like a good time to share what we are up to, and where we go from here.

“Question 1”, voters in the state of Massachusetts passed a law that requires auto manufacturers to make key data from vehicles available to owners and third parties (like repair shops) via an open data platform, and to allow owners and independent mechanics to send commands to the vehicle for repair, maintenance and diagnostic testing.

Motorq Closes $7 Million Series A Funding Round; Launches Suite of Fleet Management Intelligence Tools.

Great to see Mike Albert Fleet Solutions taking a big step to develop and launch a new driver monitoring solution for fleets to help enhance safety, productivity, compliance, customer goodwill as well as vehicle performance and value.

The fleet management industry is at the dawn of a new era of data that will bring massive benefits, and along with it, significant complexity. As aftermarket telematics devices give way to natively connected cars, there’s a new data paradigm. By working with the automotive OEMs, Motorq is uniquely positioned to unlock the business intelligence that comes from a connected fleet, while hiding the complexity from the customer.

We are excited to announce that Motorq Inc. has raised $2M in seed financing to scale up its connected car data and analytics platform.