Telematics are helping lots of different people, be it through improving their home security or helping them become safer drivers. However there’s one segment of the market that’s benefitting more in general: enterprise. In comparison, end-users and average consumers aren’t seeing quite such improvements.
Of course those that have taken on black box insurance packages are often improving their driving to help reduce their premiums, but those that have had telematics added to their work vehicle are seeing much more benefits according to research from the RAC.
As part of a study on telematics improvements, the RAC found that as many as 90 per cent of company workers that have telematics fitted in their vehicles use the system to help calculate and improve their fuel efficiency through slower and better driving practices. Over 40 per cent said that they made big changes to the way they drive in order to achieve those goals. However, this is compared with 27 per cent of private car users that install telematics for whatever reason.
However, it isn’t quite as bleak as those numbers paint it, as over 40 per cent of private telematics users did say that they used the devices to help monitor their fuel economy – though admittedly the numbers for people taking significant steps to improve it are much smaller.
“Technology can help drivers keep track of their fuel efficiency and vehicles themselves are becoming more sophisticated at self-monitoring,” said David Aldridge, RAC Business services director (via FleetPoint).
“The increasing use of telematics could also be altering driver behaviour. When your speed and journeys are being monitored by your company inevitably this will have a knock-on effect on how efficiently you drive,” said Aldridge.
He went on to say that it was good to see so many enterprise users watching their fuel economy and would like to see more consumers do it too. While fuel prices have fallen a lot as of late, he said, filling up your car is still not a cheap endeavour. Eeking out a few more miles per gallon can save a lot of money in the long run he said.
The question now of course, is whether this trend will reverse a little at the moment, with people becoming more willing to put their foot down a little more since fuel is so much cheaper than it was just a few months ago. At the time of writing it can be found for as little as £1.00 per litre, the lowest it’s been in years. This may be a trend that continues too, as demand for fuel has actually fallen as of late, from 52.8 billion litres in 2000-2001, to 50.71 billion in 2013-2014.
That suggests that with more fuel efficient vehicles, even the ever increasing number of cars on our roads hasn’t made any gains over the past decade. While bad news for the oil producing countries around the world, it’s good news for those worried about climate change. Perhaps we’re finally starting to put a dent in it – and telematics has helped a lot with that.
Image source: Geograph
