Easing the transition to EVs Trial aims to streamline courier service

Fleet management

Easing the transition to electric vehicles

Radius Payment Solutions has launched a new range of products aimed at businesses and fleet operators looking to make the transition to electric or hybrid vehicles.

Radius EV is a new division that will focus on providing products and services including workplace and home charge points and a new dual-fuel card, that enables drivers to charge their vehicles and buy diesel or petrol, all on one card.

The newly launched charge points will provide businesses and employees with a turnkey charge point solution for their office, depot and home. Business charge points provide charging at 22kW. Home charge points deliver speeds of up to 7.4kW on a typical single-phase domestic supply.

Radius EV will also offer an all-inone fuel card that gives a convenient way to buy diesel and petrol at over 3,350 fuel stations across the UK.

Bill Holmes, CEO of Radius Payment Solutions, said: “Following the significant investment made in Chargepoint Europe in 2020, this is another exciting step into the world of electric vehicles, after more than 30 years in the traditional UK fuel market.

“As the sales of electric vehicles continue to accelerate over the decade ahead, there is going to be a huge demand for charge points and network access. The development of workplace and home charge points, coupled with our own brand all-in-one fuel card, provides an end-to-end solution for diesel, petrol and electric vehicle fleets that will help them manage their transition to electric.”

Bill Holmes: ‘exciting step’

Trial aims to streamline courier service

Ford has teamed up with Hermes to trial a courier service aimed at reducing the footprint of parcel deliveries in cities.

The partnership uses Ford’s smart ‘MoDe:Link’ multi-modal routing and logistics software to coordinate traditional delivery vans with pedestrian couriers, identifying safe locations for drivers to park within walking distance of multiple delivery addresses. From there, the final leg of the journey is completed on foot as couriers make deliveries to a mix of high-rise, business and residential buildings.

Couriers use a smartphone app that advises the location of the van and shows the most economical routes and itinerary to deliver the parcels. The app integrates with Hermes’ tracking systems to ensure customers have real-time visibility of the status of their deliveries.

The overall system orchestrates the end-to-end journey for each parcel, ensuring that deliveries – whether on the first mile from the depot by road, or the last mile to the doorstep on foot – are as efficient and as sustainable as they can be. Initially focussed on London, Ford and Hermes will now explore extending the pilot to further areas of the UK.

TPMS connects to telematics

Wheely-Safe is making its tyre pressure monitoring system (TPMS) available for connection to van and car telematics and CAN bus for the first time, with a new range of connected open platform devices offered alongside its standalone products.

The launch forms part of the biggest series of upgrades by WheelySafe to-date, enhancing its offer to fleets, telematics providers and original equipment manufacturers (OEMs).

It includes the introduction of the world’s first auto-calibrating internal TPMS sensor with auto-positioning capability on four-wheel vehicles, eliminating the need for external valve sensors if preferred. The new sensors can distinguish between intentional pressure adjustments and genuine under-inflation or leakage.

Steve Jackson, managing director of Wheely-Safe, said: “Fleets increasingly want everything running through their telematics and that brings huge advantages for the Wheely-Safe product. It means we can provide access to real-time pressure data remotely, which can help to prevent breakdowns and takes the guesswork out of organising tyre maintenance.”