BT Group, one of the UK's largest fleets, is set for a series of major environmental, performance and financial improvements following a partnership with vehicle tuning and ECU remapping specialist Viezu Technologies.
The programme, which commenced in late August, will see more than 20,000 of BT's light commercial vehicles remapped using Viezu's proprietary technology, to deliver better fuel consumption and reduced CO2 emissions, while also improving vehicle driveability.
"BT is committed to being a responsible and sustainable business leader, so remapping our vehicles for economy and better environmental performance makes complete sense," explained Steve Watson, senior innovation and design specialist at BT Fleet.
"But it's not just these benefits which make it appealing. Once we saw what was technically possible, we crunched the numbers and the business case also stacked up."
The vehicles being tuned within the upgrade programme for BT Fleet range from small Corsa sized vans through to larger Transit chassis-cab vans, with much larger payloads and different driving cycles.
However, due to their extensive understanding of their fleet's operating cycles, BT Fleet was able to provide Viezu with detailed requirements and benchmarking figures.
Viezu and BT Fleet then developed a unique blend of tuning solutions to match BT's requirements which included throttle, rev, speed and power limiting. It is anticipated that the programme will help BT deliver savings of over £3 million.
"Vehicle remapping offers fleets a host of opportunities and we're being increasingly asked by companies like BT to help them achieve their own environmental and cost reduction targets," explained Paul Busby, CEO, Viezu Technologies.
"With an ISO certified process and a potential payback period of just three months, any technical risks are minimised and rewards can be felt almost instantaneously."
The remapping programme for BT's 24,000 vehicles is set to be completed in just four months and more than 5,000 vehicles have already been converted. Remaps take place at BT Fleet's 63 garages around the UK as vehicles come in for regular MoT's and other service work.
Individual, bespoke software files are written for each vehicle by Viezu's centrally located team of software development engineers. Currently, new remap files are being supplied back to BT Fleet's garages in just five minutes ensuring no delays in servicing and maximum workshop efficiency.
Vehicle audits are yet to confirm the amount of savings delivered by the project but it has already received considerable favourable feedback from engineers and vehicle operators alike.
"We conducted a significant amount of internal communications to explain to our users what we would be doing to the vehicles," said Watson. "And the feedback we've had so far has been almost entirely unanimous in its praise. Drivers like the improved driveability and better performance, particularly in low-down rev range."
Such is the success of the programme that BT Fleet is set to roll the service out to its customers and help them achieve similar savings.
"This partnership with BT Fleet really has delivered some exceptional savings," concludes Busby. "As we now have a genuine UK wide installation base, we expect many more fleets to open their eyes to the opportunities provided by remapping."
clancollier@gmail.com - 07/11/2012 09:25
As Sherlock Holmes used to say, 'Elementary my dear Watson'. These horseless carriages have a future, providiong we humans retain our horse sense.