ANAHEIM, California—Clarios launched a new idling reduction service in North America that could save fleets $3,300 in fuel expenses per truck, per year.
During the Advanced Clean Transportation Expo, Clarios launched the service, named IdleLess, for U.S. and Canadian fleets. The company announced the solution's first commercial operation in Europe in December.
The company used its expertise as a leading low-voltage battery manufacturer to turn battery charge data into confident recommendations to maintain hotel loads for the least idling.
Proprietary algorithms allow the company to turn real-time battery and telematics data into confident battery management guidance.
“We’re providing those insights to give them certainty on the state of their battery,” Christina Yarnold, director of product management, connected services, for Clarios, told journalists in Anaheim. “They know with confidence whether they can stop their engine and keep pulling power—and when to start it to ensure they’re not having a downtime event.”
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The cost of idling
According to 2015 data from the U.S. Department of Energy, the average long-haul truck idles for 1,800 hours each year.
Idling to charge the truck’s battery is important for driver comfort and vehicle uptime. If a driver wants to run air conditioning overnight, they will need to know the battery has enough power to sustain that load. However, it isn’t easy to know whether a battery has the right charge: It varies depending on the driver, truck, environment, and battery.
“The driver doesn’t know, therefore they have anxiety, and they’re idling before sleeping,” Cagatay Topcu, VP of Clarios Connected Services, told journalists.
An average of 1,800 hours each year burns 1,500 gallons of diesel, emits 8.6 metric tons of carbon dioxide, and adds significant wear to the truck’s engine. At the current average price of diesel, idling could cost fleets over $6,000 per truck annually.
Clarios’s solution aims to help drivers feel confident idling only as much as their load would need, reducing as many as 1,000 of those idle hours each year. That reduction would save over $3,000 per truck.
How does IdleLess work?
The company’s solution requires a monthly subscription and one-time hardware installation fee to get started. The baseline pricing for the subscription is $43 per month, and the hardware installation is $500.
A first-time installation attaches a sensor and gateway to a truck. The hardware records and communicates battery output data every minute. The company uses proprietary algorithms on its servers to turn the raw sensor data into what Yarnold calls “bespoke battery recommendations” for trucks.
The company can use the information to build personalized idling recommendations, accounting even for the specific behaviors of drivers and trucks.
By integrating the solution with fleets' existing telematics platforms, drivers will be notified of the best times to start and stop their engines. Using these recommendations, drivers will be able to reduce idling, ensuring that they will have sufficient power for long hotel loads.
“Driver comfort is key. We want to maintain cabin comfort while eliminating guesswork,” Junior Barrett, global director of business development for Clarios, said. “We want the driver to be very comfortable when doing this, without the constant starting and stopping of trucks in the middle of the night.”
The system can also notify fleet management if a driver is engaging in unnecessary driving—or if they are trying to disable the idle reduction technology.
Only the beginning
Clarios has big plans for its platform. The company plans to continue improving its data collection and recommendations.
In addition, the company plans to bring its hardware to truck manufacturers rather than remain an aftermarket solution, and hopes to one day include automated engine control to stop or start idling whenever needed.
