Ford Seeks Vehicle-Use Insights Through Fleet Study
The Fleet Insight study has been under way for the past 10 weeks incorporating 72 Hewlett-Packard corporate vehicles.
Ford and tech giant Hewlett-Packard are in the midst of a data-gathering project that could alter how businesses operate their fleets.
The Fleet Insight study, part of the automaker’s ongoing global Smart Mobility experiments, has been under way for the past 10 weeks incorporating 72 HP-owned Ford vehicles, mostly Escape CUVs and Fusion midsize sedans used by support and sales personnel.
Utilizing parameter-ID devices, or PIDs, Ford is tracking 100 vehicles as they are driven nationwide by HP employees for work and personal commuting. Ford says collecting data about how drivers use their vehicles could lead to better products and services.
Data being collected includes GPS coordinates, vehicle speed, engine speed, coolant temperature, gas level, air flow, battery voltage, acceleration, idling time and trip distance, says Shounak Athvale, the Ford IT manager heading up the mobility experiment.
“The project will shed light on the purpose behind the (HP staff) trips, how drivers interact with external factors such as weather and traffic, and how to further personalize time behind the wheel,” Athvale tells WardsAuto.
When the program wraps in another 10-12 weeks, Athvale says data will be analyzed and used to develop a number of different technologies or programs.
For example, HP could use the data to streamline the way its corporate vehicle fleet is utilized.