Fleet briefs: Latest from Select Car Leasing, AssetWorks, Digital INNK, Soper and the Algorithm People

Select Car Leasing expands EV division to cater for growing interest

Select Car Leasing has expanded its electric vehicle (EV) division, with the number of specialist staff focussed on battery electric vehicles (BEVs) doubling.

Select has also expanded its dedicated ‘Electric Vehicles and Energy’ division, to ensure that all company departments, together with leasing consultants, are fully conversant with EVs, charging, electricity tariffs, home and workplace energy generation such as solar panels, and how all of these items work together to save customers money and reduce their carbon footprint.

According to David Lewis, head of electric vehicles and energy, it means around 40% of all leasing consultants at Select are specialists in EV solutions for both personal and business clients

He said: “The expansion of the Electric Vehicles and Energy division underlines Select’s commitment to green vehicles.

“Going forward, this ensures we will be at the forefront of the electric revolution, and in a position to offer our customers the best advice and guidance possible.”

Overall, Select’s pure electric new car sales now account for around a quarter (25%) of all vehicle sales at the company.

BMW dealership installs fastest EV charger in the UK

Soper of Lincoln has installed two ultra-rapid ABB Terra 360 electric vehicle chargers that can provide 62 miles of range within three minutes.

One of the Terra 360 units at Soper of Lincoln is on the dealership forecourt, while the other is dedicated to the 15-bay service workshop.

To accommodate the new chargers, the dealership upgraded its grid connection to support the 560 amps needed for each charger to operate at full power.

Andrew Tullie, dealer principal at Soper Lincoln BMW, said: “Each of our two Terra 360s can fully charge four high-performance BMW i7 EVs an hour.”

The Terra 360 units are dual-outlet units, meaning that two vehicles can charge simultaneously using the combined charging system (CCS) connection.

By mid-2023, ABB will be releasing a four-outlet version of the Terra 360 to the UK to share power between up to four vehicles at once. This will maximise return of investment for forecourts, since one unit will be able serve 90kW of power to four drivers simultaneously.

AssetWorks expands into the rental market

AssetWorks has launched a fleet management product for asset rental and daily hire vehicles.

AssetWorks Rental is an integrated, real-time module that manages all aspects of the rental process.

The module is designed for fleet organisations that need to manage the short-term and long-term hire of vehicles and ancillary equipment. It supports the rental of internal assets as well as the renting from suppliers.

Mike Gadd, managing director of AssetWorks, said: “Since the beginning of the pandemic, fleet costs across the board have exponentially increased due to multiple factors, like supply chain disruptions, inflation, and other market forces. 

“As a consequence, fleet operators have to re-examine their vehicle replacement plans, and carefully evaluate usership versus ownership when procuring.”

Digital INNK launch helps fleets beat the Christmas rush  

Digital INNK has launched a driving licence checker that uses the latest APIs, ahead of the seasonal hiring boom for last-mile drivers.

The app allows automated driver licence checking and fit-to-drive declarations to be displayed live in a dashboard.

“Fleet managers face huge pressure at this time of year meeting compliance procedures for thousands of new drivers,” said Angela Montacute, CEO of Digital INNK.

“We worked with the industry to develop an easy-to-implement solution that allows drivers to complete their own checks and submit the evidence at the push of a button.”

She concluded: “We believe technology has a pivotal role to play in helping firms manage rising business costs. So, we worked hard to deliver a product that is cost-effective and delivers real efficiency savings to fleet managers.”

Investment drives triple digit growth at Algorithm People

The Algorithm People (TAP) has secured £2.2 million of funding, to accelerate its scale-up plans and drive growth, in both in the UK and abroad.

The latest funding builds on last year’s announcement of a multi-million-dollar injection from tech investors and comes as the company delivers 256% growth in annually recurring revenues (ARR) at the end of its third trading year.

“We have demonstrated a clear market need for our optimisation toolkit,” explained TAP CEO Colin Ferguson (pictured). “We have also secured several major clients who are now taking advantage of the efficiency gains our technology offers.

“We have rolled out our solutions for key customers in Europe, with plans for other regions globally, including the US. This funding will underpin our scale-up growth plans and power our next round of technical developments, including artificial intelligence.”

TAP says it will release new, more powerful optimisation algorithms in 2023 powered by AI and machine learning, which will deliver more functionality for its clients, in addition to solving new and emerging problems, addressing the complexities of mixed fleet planning.

The scale-up plans will see the company create more jobs and increase the workforce by 35% in the next twelve months, as it continues to deliver its year-on-year triple digit growth ambitions.