Fleet Reservation: Maximising efficiency of heavy-duty fleets

With the surge of electric trucks in heavy-duty fleets, operators have one question in mind: “How can I ensure that my trucks are charged and fully operational at all times?” Read on to learn about our latest service, Fleet Reservation, and understand how it ensures efficiency and smooth public charging experiences for heavy-duty EV drivers. 

The heavy-duty sector is slowly turning electric as both the sector players and legislators understand the benefits of electrification. Not only is an electrified heavy-duty fleet beneficial for the environment as it drastically reduces harmful emissions, but it also positively affects your bottom line as the total cost of ownership (TCO) favours electric trucks. The TCO of electric trucks is expected to be lower than the TCO of comparable ICE models already by 2025. 

In short, the electrification of heavy-duty fleets is happening and it’s happening fast. If you operate heavy-duty fleets and have been exploring electrification, you know that seamless public charging for your electric trucks is essential in keeping up the efficiency of your day-to-day operations. You're able to anticipate charging needs on your sites, but planning becomes more complicated once your trucks leave your premises and are on the road. How to best plan your fleet's journeys when you're not always sure which public charge points are available?

At Virta, we’ve been developing a service that makes route planning much smoother. 

Introducing: Fleet Reservation 

Fleet Reservation does exactly what its name suggests: it lets you reserve charge points in advance for your EV fleet drivers so they can simply arrive and charge at their allocated time. This way, you can ensure your EV drivers don’t have to wait around at public charge points for their turn or even make decisions about where to charge, simplifying their day. Thanks to that, your electric fleet is always ready to go — maximising efficiency and minimising delays. 

Benefits at a glance 

Route planning made smart 

One convenient aspect of the Virta Fleet solution is that it can be fully integrated into your existing fleet management systems and processes. On top of automated invoicing and easily accessible data, the Fleet Reservation service gives you complete control over your electric fleet and optimises your operations. Your route planning and scheduling will become smarter than ever. 

Saving time and resources 

When running large-scale operations and managing tens or even hundreds of heavy-duty vehicles, you want to ensure you’re always reaching maximum efficiency. Reserving charge points in advance in the most convenient locations gives you peace of mind as you know you’re not wasting resources. Plus, your drivers will not experience any interruptions or delays en route, limiting frustrations and ensuring your team feels supported. 

Stay in the know 

Staying informed about the state of your business is critical. Fleet Reservation lets you keep your finger on the pulse and gives you complete insight into your field operations. This way, you’re always in control and ready to make quick decisions on the go. 

Flexibility ensured 

Planning your drivers’ daily shifts is easy when you can schedule their charging times in advance. If the schedule turns out to be too tight or any unforeseen changes come up, you can easily adjust the duration of the reservation slot so it best suits your specific needs. 

Simple to use 

Reserving chargers for a large number of EV drivers at the same time might feel like an overwhelming task. We made sure that Fleet Reservation is easy to use and your reservations can be done with only a few clicks. Let’s look at how Fleet Reservation works in practice. 

How does it work? 

For fleet managers 

You can manage your Fleet Reservations in Virta’s Charge Point Management System (CPMS), Virta Hub. The whole process takes only four easy steps. 

1. First, you log into Virta Hub and navigate to your Drivers section.
2. Then, you choose the driver for whom you’re reserving the charging time and find a suitable charger on their specific route.
3. Then, you can easily reserve that charger for your chosen time, which prompts a notification to your driver’s mobile app.
4. The reservation slot ends when your driver arrives and starts charging.

For EV drivers  

Your EV drivers will be notified about the reservation using the Virta mobile app. 

If you reserve a public charge point, the charger will show as ‘Reserved’ in the app for other EV drivers coming to charge.  

Explore the Virta Fleet solution 

The Fleet Reservation service is a valuable addition to our Fleet solution, designed to give you peace of mind when managing an electric vehicle fleet. 

Automate your invoicing, manage your energy needs, allow your drivers to charge anywhere – from home or a public charging site, access valuable data and get your drivers automatically reimbursed for their home charging. 

The Virta Fleet solution offers a bundle of features to simplify your life as a fleet operator.