Redtail Telematics has launched an SMS service that alerts the driver when a vehicle’s battery is getting low on power as a result of inactivity.

Redtail analysed data obtained from a sample of the 430,000 vehicles in its systems, which revealed that 10% of vehicles’ batteries are currently reaching critical charging levels of 20% - the minimum battery charge required to reliably start a vehicle.

Responding to the issue of losing battery power, through vehicle inactivity, Redtail has reprogrammed their black boxes in situ so that they send battery status information to their data warehouse, whereby this information is translated into alerts by the insurer that can be sent to the vehicle owner by email or SMS.

Redtail’s Red-Amber-Green system can be viewed at any time in the Redtail apps, and the Red state can be set to trigger an alert. Keeping the battery in the green state will also lengthen its service life.

Dr Colin Smithers, Redtail’s CEO, said: “Redtail is a one stop shop telematics company serving insurance, fleet and OEM customers, and so it is easy for us to re-programme our boxes over the air and modify the data warehouse functionality to create these custom alerts, and all done 100% remotely from our homes.”

Fleet operators can avoid a large number of breakdowns after the coronavirus lockdown is lifted by advising drivers of some basic car care tips.

While car usage isn’t completely banned under the lockdown rules, many vehicles will be left parked up for extended periods or only used for infrequent short journeys.

“It is highly likely that there will be a spike, particularly in battery breakdowns, once the current crisis is over. However, unlike the first working day after the New Year it is unlikely that everyone will return to work or journeys on the same day,” a spokesperson from the AA told Fleet News.

The organisation said it will be making plans to cope with any surge in demand and advising fleet drivers on vehicle maintenance. To read more, click here.

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