While flights today are over 80% more fuel efficient than they were in the 1950s, the aviation sector still produces almost one billion tonnes of CO2 per year. As the effects of climate change become increasingly apparent, the sector is facing pressure to further reduce its environmental footprint.
This will be especially crucial in the coming decades as air travel demands continue to soar, with global passenger numbers expected to double by 2042. The aviation industry is making a lot of changes — and in this regard, electrification offers a promising pathway to sustainability: not just of flights themselves, but of the entire ecosystem.
The Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) Airport Zero Emissions Vehicle (ZEV) and Infrastructure Pilot Program provides grants to airports to support electrification projects, such as the installation of solar panels and charging stations. Last year, the FAA announced that this fund had awarded $92 million to 21 airports across the US.
It is part of a wider strategy to fulfill the Aviation Climate Action Plan, a “whole-of-government approach to put the sector on a path toward achieving net-zero emissions by 2050.” Here is how the industry has responded to this ambitious call-to-action.
What’s going electric in aviation
● Aircraft — Once seen as a distant science-fiction dream, there are now an estimated 100 electric plane programs in development around the world, and shorter-range electric aircraft could even become commercially available as soon as next year.
In addition to being zero-emission — and thus reducing the impact of global warming and improving air quality for nearby communities — electric planes produce less noise pollution, opening up the possibility of expanding air travel to areas where it is currently restricted due to noise regulations. Certain aircraft can even take-off and land vertically, further broadening accessibility beyond traditional airports.
However, as in any heavily regulated industry, the pace of adoption will likely lag well behind technological advancements. Just one electric aircraft has been certified by the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), and only 10 of the 19,000 privately owned planes in the UK are electric.
● Airport ground support equipment (GSE) — Even before regulation catches up, there is a lot that the aviation industry can do to stay ahead of the sustainability curve: beginning with airports. Airport ground support vehicles, traditionally fossil-fuel-powered, are ideal for electrification since they have predictable routes that tend to cover short distances — such as passenger and cargo transport buses.
Several airports, including St. Louis Lambert International Airport in Missouri, have already begun transitioning their interterminal passenger transport fleets to EVs using FAA grant money.
● Shuttles and transit — Airport shuttle buses require greater electricity and infrastructure demands since they transport passengers to and from the city center. This means installing charging stations not only at airport terminals, but also at pick-up/drop-up sites in cities, as was carried out by a Toronto airport that recently electrified its city shuttle bus route.
By harnessing vehicle-to-grid (V2G) technology, heavy-duty electric vehicles such as buses can even serve as back-up generators when they’re not in use, preventing power outages. This is particularly critical given how common — and costly — airport blackouts are. 85% of airport executives say they’ve had at least one power outage in the past year, which in some cases cost upwards of $100 million and left tens of thousands of passengers stranded.
● Charging hubs — As the US slowly phases out gas-powered cars, airports will need to prioritize the installation of charging infrastructure not only for internal vehicles, but also for external commercial fleets (such as taxis and rental cars) and personal EVs. This will require the deployment of various types and speeds of chargers, ensuring scalability to meet future demand, as well as adaptability to future technological advancements.
If this crucial step is executed well, airports can establish themselves as pivotal charging hubs for land EVs while simultaneously gearing up for the not-so-distant future when electric aircrafts take to our skies in great numbers.
Navigating electrification challenges
As the transition from traditional internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles to EVs gains momentum, airport electricity demand is projected to increase 5x by 2050, with some airports expecting demand to triple within the next five years alone.
Working with utilities closely will be essential for airports to evaluate their current electrical infrastructure and work on getting more power to their sites.
While the upfront costs associated with this may cause some concern, the truth is that electrification is far more cost effective in the long-run. Electrification not only cuts emissions, it also massively reduces overall energy demand. For airports that opt for electricity sourced from on-site renewables, cost-savings will be even more pronounced.
Furthermore, airports are typically built in densely populated urban areas where free land is scarce. Finding adequate spaces to build electrification infrastructure can be challenging due to the need to prioritize runway operations, parking and terminal facilities. Additionally, any new infrastructure in an airport needs to adhere to strict security standards, and extra measures may need to be taken to ensure that electrical installations do not interfere with airport facilities.
To overcome this, airports should assess their current infrastructure layout to identify inefficiently used spaces that can be repurposed for electrification projects. For example, terminal rooftops or parking lots can be redesigned to house electrification and charging infrastructure. These spaces can even be leveraged to build microgrids made up of solar farms, storage batteries, and other distributed energy resources (DERs) — further boosting sustainability by sourcing electricity from renewables.
How software can support airport electrification
Successful airport electrification will ultimately require extremely efficient management of energy resources. Smart charge management software can enhance efficiency at airports by optimizing charging of on-site vehicles during off-peak hours when electricity costs are lowest, thus minimizing operational expenses. These systems can also reduce risk of power outages by automatically managing peak loads.
The challenge of hardware-software interoperability is still a major hurdle in the EV transition — and this will be no less the case for airports as they look to go fully electric. But with the right software, airports won’t have to choose between relying on a single provider, which comes with an increased risk of power outages, and potentially facing compatibility issues by opting for several different providers.
Advanced software will facilitate data collection on EV charging activities across the entire airport, empowering decision-makers with insights into demand patterns and operational needs, thus enabling optimization strategies to cut costs, prevent power outages, and even open up additional revenue streams.
The electrification of airports will be vital to reducing the carbon footprint of a heavily-polluting sector, and should thus form a core part of a nations’ efforts to adhere to the Paris Agreement, which states that the rise in global temperatures should be limited to well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels. In establishing crucial charging infrastructure, airports will not only serve their own electrification needs, but also those of other industries as well as the public. In this sense, airport electrification has the potential to spark a ripple effect, promoting wider EV adoption across diverse sectors.
The EPA’s newest regulations have set tighter limits on tailpipe emissions across medium-, and heavy-duty vehicles. Consequently, many headlines have referred to these regulations as an “EV push,” but the reality isn’t so black and white.
For example, the regulations mandate that medium-duty vehicles reduce their GHG emissions by 44%. But as these limits are applied across an automaker's entire fleet, OEMs have the flexibility to mix and match their products in order to meet restrictions. This can be achieved through a collection of more efficient ice engines, alternative fuels like hydrogen-powered vehicles, PHEV and EVs.
The EPA estimates that these changes will lead to around $13 billion worth of annual benefits related to public health, climate and fuel savings, so this is great news! But that doesn’t mean it’s not also stressful news, especially for fleet operators who don’t feel prepared to invest in alternative fuel-vehicles.
$13 billion worth of annual benefits related to public health, climate and fuel savings.
While we know this transition will not be without its bumps, we wanted to lay out three ways we can help ease you through the changes.
Choosing the Right Vehicles
When investing in a new commercial vehicle, upfront costs are obviously a major factor. For many, the higher price tags of fully electric commercial vehicles, including the costs of necessary charging infrastructure, can be prohibitive. If you’re writing off the possibility altogether because of such expenses, it’s worth considering that recent studies point to fully BEV trucks as having the lowest TCO when compared to their counterparts, owing to reduced expenditures related to fuel and maintenance.
The EPA is also in the process of designing a grant application program aimed at organizations located in areas with higher levels of air pollution. Future funds will be deployed to replace older Class 6 and Class 7 heavy-duty vehicles for newer zero emissions models. While applications have not yet opened, there are several steps to take in order to prepare as they’re anticipated to open in the coming months.
For those who are not eligible for these grants, it's worth looking into state-specific funding opportunities or LCFS credits.
Choosing the Right Infrastructure Partners
If the frequent headlines regarding the lack of available public chargers for commercial EVs have previously made you second guess adopting them into your fleet, rest assured that installing your own chargers means you’re not subject to these inconsistencies. However, it’s imperative that you choose the right partners.
Regulations around charger manufacturing are not nearly as stringent as those around electric vehicles themselves, which has resulted in an array of cheaper, “dumb” charging options that will only cost you more money in the long run as they can’t be connected to the cloud or charge management software like Synop’s, which you’ll want in order to optimize your energy management needs.
So ensure you work with charging manufacturers that follow the industry’s Open Charge Point Protocol (OCPP), a standard that allows compliant chargers to communicate with compliant software. Be aware, however, that challenges may still arise as hardware-software interoperability issues remain one of the industry’s biggest pain points.
For this reason, we’ve integrated with over 23 Electric Vehicle Supply Equipment (EVSE) manufacturers and deepened our relationship with hardware providers. We also equip customers with a curated list of hardware options that all work with Synop’s software platform, made possible by extensive testing in our Charge Lab. Through this work we hope to remove friction and frustration from the charger selection process, making it as seamless as possible.
With the right software and hardware partners, you’ll have all of the tools at your fingertips to make the most of your new EVs.
Putting Evs and Charging Infrastructure to Work
With the right partnerships, your EV is no longer just a means to comply with new regulations, it’s also a source of money savings and potentially added revenue. According to our studies, fleets can save 25-40% off their utility bill simply through charge management practices.
Fleets can save 25-40% off their utility bill through charge management practices
For example, operators can cap energy consumption during peak demand hours in order to avoid higher energy prices. Taken a step further, in times when the grid is experiencing strain, EV batteries can actually be used to support the grid and generate additional revenue.
Energy curtailment & Vehicle to Grid shown below on Synop’s platform:
This is possible through vehicle to grid (V2G) software, which can reverse the flow of electricity from the battery, through the charger, and onto the grid when a vehicle is not in use. Because that energy was bought during off-peak hours, the energy is sold back at a high price. In a previous V2G pilot program, we saw a single electric school bus generate $23,500 across two summers.
But this is just the beginning of what’s possible when you begin to integrate EVs into your fleet. As your operation scales, you can take further control of your energy needs by integrating distributed energy resources (DERs) and implementing those into your EV charging plan.
Additionally, our newly launched Managed Access Charging features make it possible to monetize private charging depots by opening them up to commercial partners. Through our new Fleet Driver Mobile App, operators can onboard drivers, set rates, and issue RFID tags, allowing for seamless authorization and tracking of charging activity.
Change is always difficult, and changing the way an entire industry has operated for decades is a tall order, but working with the right partners can make this change feel more welcome.
Need help getting started on your EV journey? Contact us and we’d be happy to support you.
Recently, Nat Bullard, formerly of Bloomberg New Energy Finance, released his annual presentation on the state of decarbonization for 2023. If you haven’t had a chance to peruse it, block off some time on your calendar because it’s well worth diving in.
The data has so much to tell us about how far we’ve come, where we still need to see change and growth, and the promising possibilities that exist for the near future if we make those changes. One story we want to zero-in on, however, is told across three separate slides:
The first: More than 6,000 companies have committed to a science-based emissions target, with a fair amount of those committing to net zero targets.
The second: Electrification is at the heart of US vehicles improving in efficiency and emissions.
The third: Temperature rise of global assets under management is moving down, across Scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions.
So what story are these three charts telling?
When a company commits to a science-based emissions target, they’re actively working to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) in alignment with the 2015 Paris Agreement and 2018 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), which aims to half GHG emissions by 2030 and reduce them to net zero by 2050 in order to stay below the 1.5°C average of global warming.
As we can see from the second slide, however, ICE vehicles are holding the US vehicle fleet back when it comes to improvements in both efficiency and emissions. So obviously, switching to EVs plays an important role in a company reducing their greenhouse gas emissions.
But a company’s total GHG isn’t just about what kinds of engines or fuel they may or may not be using. In fact, when a company is looking to reduce their emissions, the Greenhouse Gas Protocol has established 3 scopes they have to consider:
Scope 1: These are the emissions directly produced by a company’s own or controlled operations, for example on-site fuel combustion, industrial processes, and company-owned vehicles. For this reason, these are the emissions a company can most directly influence and control.
Scope 2: These emissions are not occurring on-site or even necessarily within the company’s control, but as they’re the result of the company’s energy consumption, the company remains indirectly responsible. For example, if the energy purchased from the local utility is generated through burning fossil fuels, the resulting emissions are included in scope 2.
Scope 3: This is where companies are forced to look well beyond their own operations and take some responsibility for all the various emissions produced upstream and downstream along the value chain. More simply, they need to consider the emissions that are produced from the extraction and/or production of the goods they’re buying all the way to the emissions that result from a customer disposing of the goods they're producing.
Bringing it back to our story, as we can see in the third slide, the temperature rise of global asset management is moving down across all three scopes. And what’s really exciting for us is that EVs are truly at the heart of this decrease.
3 ways EVs are reducing GHG across all three scopes:
In December we announced that Synop was the first EV charging and energy management solutions company to achieve Standard Partner Tier status on the Geotab Marketplace. Our blog on the announcement detailed the rigorous vetting process behind this achievement, validating our software’s ability for deep integrations and customization.
In order to demonstrate the cutting-edge capabilities that are possible for fleet managers when Synop’s AI-powered software is integrated with Geotab’s robust data infrastructure, Jared Carson, our Director of Sales, joined Maya Acierto, Marketplace Specialist at Geotab, and Clay Skelton, President at Origo for a webinar.
Safety First
The webinar kicked off with a demonstration of the OrigoInspect app, a tool designed to ensure fleet safety inspections are thoroughly completed by creating a time and location stamped GPS recording of the driver’s journey around the truck. The platform also equips drivers with the ability to immediately report abnormalities to fleet managers, who in turn can quickly provide any necessary feedback.
Through his demonstration, Clay Skelton highlighted the benefits of drivers using the Origo app on their tablets or phones to complete vehicle inspections. Key features included:
The Origo platform also automates reports such as: summary reports which surface drivers that need prioritized coaching, rules reports on inspection averages so thresholds remain accurate, and exception aging reports so drivers are given timely feedback from management.
It was clear by the end of the demo that the Origo app provides fleet managers with peace of mind through clear visibility into compliance and safety protocols.
Synop and Geotab: A Potent Partnership
Then our own Jared Carson took centerstage, managing to deliver an excellent demonstration without skipping a beat despite technical difficulties. Jared dove right into the reality that ensuring electric fleet vehicles stay up and running relies on real time data in a way traditional ICE vehicles don't. This makes the integration of Geotab’s telemetry data into the Synop platform a massive value-add, especially for mixed-fuel fleet managers.
To illustrate this difference, he pointed to our Minnesota Coaches case study, where managers and drivers had to account for the way cold weather impacts battery charge. He also shared a more recent anecdote of a client whose hardware stopped charging mid-session due to exceeding its minimum operating temperature of -20ºC! Thankfully, our dashboard made it possible to not only remotely restart the charge, but also to turn on the bus thermal, heating the cabin before the bus successfully completed its route with a full battery.
Jared then provided a product demonstration highlighting the many ways the Geotab and Synop platforms harmonize. Key features included:
Jared covered a lot of ground in a small amount of time, but what’s so exciting is there is so much more to share and even more to come. A big thank you to all participants and for those who weren’t able to attend, reach out! We’d be happy to schedule a demo just for you: https://www.synop.ai/contact-us.
Part 1: Trickle Charging in Frosty Conditions from Vermont to Alaska
In cold weather, EV battery efficiency drops significantly. Our solution? Start with a trickle charge. Maintaining this gentle, constant charge minimizes stress on the battery in frigid conditions, safeguarding its health and longevity. As the departure time approaches, our software then intelligently increases the charging rate, aiming to reach the desired State of Charge (SOC) precisely when needed.
There’s a lot of news right now about cold weather causing battery efficiency to drop significantly. Our customers managing large commercial fleets feel this impact. At Synop, we're pioneering the future of EV charging, especially in challenging cold weather conditions. One of our key strategies is to automatically implement trickle charging, followed by a ramp-up to the target SOC just before departure. An example of a Synop cold weather charging scenario below:
At a commercial fleet depot in Vermont, Synop’s software kept the vehicles at minimal charge overnight, maintaining around 60% SOC. As departure time neared, we charged the batteries to the necessary ~92% level we calculated the vehicles needed for their route. This method ensures that the batteries are at optimal performance, despite the cold, and that the vehicles are ready to go when needed. The last thing we want is the driver getting into their vehicle in freezing conditions, only to find that it isn’t ready.
Synop’s method has shown remarkable efficiency in places like Vermont, where the temperatures have been dropping to -20°C, or even Alaska, where the temperature has dropped to close to -40°C
Part 2: Leveraging Weather Data for Optimal Charging
Understanding that weather significantly impacts EV battery performance, Synop has integrated real-time weather data into our charging algorithms. This approach allows us to dynamically adjust the SOC based on upcoming weather conditions.
Machine Learning Meets Meteorology
Our machine learning models, enriched with historical data, establish benchmarks for typical charging needs. When a customer plans a trip, say, at 9AM with an 80% SOC requirement, our system ingests the latest weather data to adjust this benchmark. For instance, if a 20°C drop in temperature is anticipated later in the day, our software recalculates the ideal SOC for that specific journey in the new weather conditions.
Synop also has a feedback loop in our Energy Management System that detects changes in charging caused by cold temperatures and adjusts on the fly, to make sure the EV gets to the target SOC on time.
Precision Charging for Every Journey
This integration of weather data ensures that each vehicle is charged to the level needed for its specific route, considering the anticipated weather. It's not just about reaching the destination; it's about reaching it efficiently, without overcharging or undercharging the battery.
Lessons Learned: The Importance of Durable and Interoperable Charging Solutions
Our work optimizing cold weather charging has taught us several lessons. Firstly, the importance of trusted and durable charging infrastructure- in sub-zero conditions, we’ve experienced some Electric Vehicle Supply Equipment (EVSEs) unexpectedly tripping, interrupting cold weather charging optimizations. Fortunately using Synop’s charger alerts & monitoring system we were able to resolve quickly.
Secondly, interoperability is key. A diverse range of vehicles, telematics and EVSEs use Synop software, and by having strong interoperability partnerships we’ve been able to establish seamless charging and operations during extreme conditions, when reliability is needed the most. Learn more about our interoperability lab at our HQ in Brooklyn, NY.
Conclusion: Synop's Commitment to Cold Weather Charging Excellence
At Synop, we're not just developing charging technology; we're tailoring it to meet the challenges of the real world. Our innovative approach to cold weather charging, combining trickle charging strategies with weather-informed SOC adjustments, stands as a testament to our commitment to EV charging excellence, regardless of the temperature outside.
SynopLink: The IOT for DERs
We’re thrilled to announce the launch of our latest product: SynopLink, which will enable streamlined, automated and seamless management of local devices such as distributed energy resources (DERs) at onsite commercial EV fleet charging stations. The solution ensures site-level connectivity and maintains operational resilience even in the face of outages. Discover how this new system will address complex challenges in the commercial EV space, as well as enabling greater sustainability.
The challenge with DERs
As more commercial trucking companies make the switch to electric vehicles (EV), many have been building onsite DERs — that is, power generators, large-scale batteries, and solar arrays — to meet the enormous electricity demands of operating large fleets of heavy-duty EVs.
While these onsite solutions ease the strain on the wider power grid, they are prone to faults and power outages if all local generators and batteries aren’t functioning optimally at all times. For example, if one or more batteries are at a lower state of charge during a peak vehicle charging period, the generators alone cannot handle the full load of all vehicle chargers. In this case, the entire microgrid site would shut down as a protection mechanism. To get the site up and running again requires personnel to go onsite to reset the microgrid manually.
Adding to the challenge, these generators and batteries are not connected to the internet. They only 'speak' to a local network through a protocol called MODBUS which is ubiquitous for industrial machines to communicate with each other over a local network.
How Synop connects the unconnected
SynopLink provides a cellular-enabled local controller which is installed on existing DER devices. Our system integrates cloud-based technology and a local hardware interface to connect the microgrid to the internet. This ensures connectivity to the cloud for real-time two-way communication. Essentially, this enhances operational reliability by safeguarding against faults and site-wide shutdowns at the charging depot.
SynopLink automatically collects, analyzes, contextualizes and communicates MODBUS data from each onsite DER device in real-time. With this information, it adjusts the amount of power that EVs can pull from the microgrid, preventing vehicles from drawing more power than is currently available in onsite batteries. This prevents system overloads and eliminates the need for in-person manual resets of 'faulted out' microgrids, ultimately maximizing uptime.
Synop’s system regulates charging rates under specific conditions that are likely to provoke microgrid shut down, such as battery charge falling below 5%, a lack of communication from the battery for more than 10 seconds, and inaccurate or stale data transmission. Once these issues are resolved, SynopLink automatically removes the curtailment, allowing the site to resume full-capacity operations. This enables real-time control, fast-response decision making and advanced optimizations.
Overall, SynopLink ensures smooth and continuous operation of onsite charging stations for commercial fleets, even under suboptimal conditions. It gives fleet operators full control of all devices on the microgrid to manage energy use and prevent shutdowns. This will ultimately enable a cleaner, greener, and more sustainable commercial transport sector.
Maine is the latest US state to consider transitioning to time-of-use (TOU) electricity rates. This is when electricity is more expensive to consume for everyone during times of peak usage (when everyone is coming home from work and school), and cheap when there is little usage (in the middle of the night).
This can be hugely beneficial if you’re ready to take advantage of lower rates and can minimize your losses when energy costs are high. But if you don’t have the right tools, you could end up paying a hefty price. Especially as a fleet owner, marginal losses per vehicle can quickly become overwhelming.
As time-of-use rates become more mainstream, here are some ways Synop’s tech helps customers adapt, reduce losses, and even save money:
Synop ran a V2G program in which a single electric school bus generated $23,500 in revenue across two summers.
If you’d like to hear more about how Synop can easily save your fleet time and money on charging, get in touch: https://www.synop.ai/contact-us.
2024 is starting off strong in the world of commercial EVs as 67 new applicants have been selected to receive nearly $1 billion through the EPA’s Clean School Bus Program. These funds were made available through President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, and are allocated to replace traditional diesel school buses with zero-emission and low-emission models.
The latest round of grants will be used to purchase over 2,700 clean school buses in 280 school districts serving more than 7 million students across 37 states. Last year, the initial round distributed over $875 million replacing 2,366 buses at 372 districts. While almost $2 billion has been awarded to date, the fund in full is meant to distribute $5 billion total over the next 5 years.
Over the last two years, we’ve worked with a number of OEM partners, utilities, and school districts to help make school bus electrification smoother. So we wanted to take the time to summarize what makes this grant program so exciting and celebrate what this means for a more sustainable future.
A program with real impact: lowering emissions, supporting the grid and raising funds
First and foremost, the Clean School Bus Program will have an enormous positive impact on the health of children. The exhaust emitted by diesel-fuel buses exposes students to toxins that have been linked by the EPA and the American Cancer Society to health issues such as asthma, lung disease, and even cancer.
Switching to emission-free electric buses will not only reduce these illnesses, it has also been proven to improve attendance rates. Of course, the collective impact of greater adoption of electric school buses will also help to lower overall greenhouse gas emissions.
With extreme weather events becoming the norm, electric school buses can also play a role in supporting the grid in times of high need. When equipped with Vehicle-to-Grid (V2G) capabilities, electric school buses become massive mobile batteries whose power can be delivered back to the grid.
Though critics also point to the higher upfront costs of purchasing electric school buses, they require less maintenance over their lifetimes and obviously save on the cost of fuel, saving school districts money in the long run. Moreover, school buses can be turned into a source of revenue. By optimizing buses to charge when rates are lowest, energy can then be sold back to utilities through V2G technology during peak demand at a higher rate, generating additional income for the school.
In a pilot program we conducted in Massachusetts across two summers, a single school bus was able to discharge 10.78 MWh hours to the grid, generating $23,500 in revenue. Considering 86% of grant recipients are school districts in low-income, rural, and tribal communities, this program holds enormous potential to equip these schools with much-needed resources.
While the transition to emission-free transportation for students across the US is just getting started, we’re confident that the more success stories we can help create, the faster wider adoption will occur. So we’d also like to applaud our many partners who are playing key roles in making this transition a reality. We’re looking forward to more opportunities to collaborate and create healthier transportation options for students and their communities!
If you’re curious to learn more about how Synop can help your school district make its transition to electric school buses honor roll worthy, reach out to us directly here: https://www.synop.ai/contact-us.
Introducing Synop’s EV Fleet Home Charging Reimbursement: The Take-Home Tool Making Charging Reimbursement Automatic and Compliant
Today we’re excited to share more about our newest product designed to make EV fleet management even easier: the Take Home Fleet Reimbursement Tool. While historically fleet managers have relied on standardized, cost-per-mile fuel rates or fuel cards to reimburse employees for mileage, when it comes to EV charging and reimbursement, things are more complicated. Especially if you’re managing a mixed fuel fleet.
So whether you’ve just started your journey to EV adoption or have an entire EV fleet at your fingertips, read on to learn what makes reimbursement different for EVs and how our new take-home reimbursement tool offers straightforward solutions to make reimbursement hassle-free.
Getting the Reimbursement Price Right
While the price of gas is no stranger to fluctuations, costs stay relatively consistent across different providers or even state lines. EV charging, on the other hand, is subject to several factors that can cause noteworthy price differences.
For starters, location. For example, in the continental US, Utah holds the lowest average residential electricity rate of 11.22 cents per kilowatt-hour, while Rhode Island’s average is 31.78 cents per kilowatt-hour. These differences add up quickly for managers of national fleets. They’re also further complicated by time of use pricing, when electricity costs increase during peak demand hours.
So while flat reimbursements require less administrative work and are easier to manage, when it comes to EVs, fleet managers risk either under or overpaying employees relative to their actual consumption. This may require true-ups paid to employees over time, which could lead to disagreements with employees regarding calculations due to the aforementioned factors.
To alleviate any uncertainty around accurate reimbursements, our Home Charging Reimbursement Tool can apply varying rates based on exactly when a vehicle was charged. So if a vehicle starts charging at the tail end of peak demand and finishes charging at a lower cost, our platform automatically applies the correct rates – ensuring drivers receive precise payouts.
Reporting is a Breeze with our Data Agnostic Software
Though home charging may be a more convenient option for employees, home chargers being tracked by employers may feel invasive for some. But even for the unbothered, their charger may not be networked or they may have issues with spotty wifi connectivity. In either case, needed data could be unavailable.
While these factors may be outside of your control, they’re a non-issue for Synop customers using the Home Charging Reimbursement Tool as it is data agnostic. Our platform can pull needed data from chargers or vehicles and on-boarding new equipment requires minimal installs and is done in minutes.
A Seamless Solution
While EV charging may be more complex than traditional ICE fueling, it doesn’t have to come at the expense of efficient business operations. At Synop, we aim to support sustainable transportation by removing the complexities behind EV charging and reimbursement, from a single dashboard.
By onboarding your vehicles, chargers, or telematics devices into the Synop platform, you’ll be provided with a range of options supporting remittance for home electricity consumption. For those wanting to manage employee reimbursements internally, EV reimbursement reports can be automatically generated. Additionally, Synop offers seamless integration capabilities with existing accounting, financial, and expense management software. Alternatively, automatic remittance is possible directly through the Synop platform thanks to an integration with Stripe.
These capabilities are not limited to commercial vehicles. Our platform also supports a pay per-mile rate for business use of a personal EV.
Finally, with tax season just around the corner, we’re proud to add that our fleet reimbursement forms are compliant with IRS (Internal Revenue Service) regulations for those organizations operating within the United States.
Interested in learning more about Synop’s EV Fleet Home Reimbursement tool? Book a demo to see how it works here: https://www.synop.ai/ev-fleet-residential-reimbursement or reach out to us directly here: https://www.synop.ai/contact-us.
2023 has been a pivotal year for us at Synop. Our mission to accelerate the electrification of commercial fleets has never been more vibrant. Throughout the year, we’ve made remarkable strides in enhancing our solutions and streamlining the shift to commercial EVs for fleets of all sizes. It's an exciting time for us as we reflect on the progress made towards a cleaner, greener transport sector.
We want to take the opportunity to thank each and every one of you who worked alongside us, supported us, and shared our ultimate objective of decarbonizing global transport through electrification.
Here are some of the achievements that we’re most proud of this year.
We partnered with industry heavyweights to supercharge our EV transition goals
As we reflect on what we’ve achieved this year, one thing is clear: we couldn’t have done any of it alone. We’re thrilled to have had some of the biggest names in the automotive, mobility, and utility industries join us on our mission to expedite the electrification of commercial fleets.
In February, we started our new partnership with Geotab, the global leader in fleet tracking and management, serving over 50,000 customers in 160 countries. Over the year, we became the first EV charging management company to reach the Standard Partner Tier on the Geotab Marketplace. By trusting in us, Geotab has provided its customers with unparalleled data-driven insights addressing the biggest pain points in EV fleet management.
As more commercial fleets transition away from ICE vehicles, they face new hurdles that are unique to EV fleet management, such as electricity price fluctuations, multiple charging requirements, and prolonged charge cycles. Our solution, now integrated with Geotab’s telematics platform, overcomes these challenges by giving fleet operators full overview of fleet charge, expenses, energy efficiency, and more.
We opened a state-of-the-art innovation lab in New York
In October, we proudly unveiled The Synop Charge Lab, our interactive testing facility located in Brooklyn, New York. The Synop Charge Lab serves as an epicenter for R&D, providing a platform for interoperability testing spanning all chargers, telematics, and vehicles. Accessible to both Synop's team and collaborative partners, the lab offers an environment conducive to rapid product prototyping and live simulations of EV charging in authentic scenarios.
The location of the lab was strategically chosen due to the abundant talent in the New York City Metropolitan Area, and the opportunity to collaborate with local companies in the thriving regional ecosystem. The new space will also serve as a headquarters office for our operations in New York.
We ramped up V2G capabilities in EV fleets
The effects of climate change are now being felt more than ever before, with each year bringing record-breaking heatwaves and cold snaps. These extreme weather events cause spikes in energy demand which place enormous strain on the grid and increase the risk of power outages.
EVs — particularly heavy-duty vehicles such as trucks and buses — are uniquely positioned to ease the strain on power systems by serving as back-up generators that deliver electricity back to the grid during peak demand periods through vehicle-to-grid (V2G) technology.
This year, we’ve partnered with EnergyHub, the utility industry’s most experienced provider of distributed energy resource management systems (DERMS), and BorgWarner, America’s leading automotive and e-mobility provider, to enable V2G capabilities in commercial EV fleets.
Thanks to these partnerships, fleet operators using our platform can now generate additional revenue via V2G by selling electricity back to the grid when prices are higher. This also enables utilities to stabilize excess power flow to the grid and better prepare for severe weather events.
We tackled hardware-software compatibility issues
In the commercial EV space, fleet operators need to be able to mix and match their providers to best meet their various business needs. But so far, issues with hardware-software interoperability have been a massive pain point and has prevented operators from accessing vital data insights that allow them to reduce costs and maximize uptime.
In response to this, we launched Works with Synop™, a program paving the way towards seamless hardware-software compatibility, with initial partnerships including industry heavyweights BorgWarner, Thomas Built Buses, Power Electronics, and Zerova.
Works with Synop™ provides our customers with a curated list of hardware options that all work with Synop’s software platform to remove friction and frustration from the EV charger selection process. The program lets fleets have their pick of a variety of charging providers, rather than tying themselves to one brand because of compatibility concerns, with the assurance that Synop's software will seamlessly work with the hardware they select.
We facilitated the electrification of drayage routes
Under new regulations outlined by the Biden administration, a quarter of new heavy-duty trucks sold in the United States must be all-electric by 2032 (the figure currently stands at just 2%).
The transition to EV in the commercial sector will take time, sustained effort and coordination among multiple stakeholders, but introducing electrification via certain entry points can promote wider EV adoption in this carbon footprint heavy industry. Drayage is one such area that we’ve been focusing our attention on this year.
Since drayage routes are relatively short, they are an ideal testing ground for electrification because charging infrastructure can easily be located on-site at the home base. Transitioning to EV drayage fleets also improves air quality in disadvantaged communities, since drayage routes tend to run through highly populated and lower-income neighborhoods.
Our platform facilitates the electrification of drayage trucks by empowering fleet operators to optimize charging according to both their unique operational requirements and the demands of the grid, ultimately reducing costs.
We enhanced charging forecasting with AI
Our platform offers real-time insights to energy usage patterns of EV fleets. Over the past year, we’ve focused on enhancing our product’s forecasting capabilities by integrating AI technology. These tools provide utilities with accurate predictions of future energy demand, allowing them to optimize their resource planning and grid operations, and adjust energy distribution accordingly.
We were the talk of the town
We’re honored to share that some of our biggest achievements in 2023 were covered by top media publications. We were featured in the New York Times in an article covering our partnership with Highland Fleets to enable V2G capabilities in electric school buses.
School buses are ideal for V2G since they have large batteries, predictable schedules and spend much of the day idle. Our platform helps optimize the interaction between Highland Fleets’ electric school buses, chargers and the power grid, enabling fleet operators to sell back electricity to the grid during peak demand periods and thus earning additional revenue for school districts.
We were also covered in two of the commercial vehicle industry’s leading publications, FreightWaves and Fleet Owner. In the FreightWaves piece, our CEO Gagan Dhillon discussed why he sees drayage as a crucial gateway for wider EV adoption in the logistic space, and the work we’re doing to facilitate this shift. The Fleet Owner article covered our partnership with EV manufacturer Lion Electric.
To our entire community, thank you very much for being part of this exciting journey with us. We can’t wait to see what 2024 brings! We wish you a happy holiday season and new year, from all of us at Synop.
