Electrification is on the rise in India, and new technologies are making electric delivery vans and trucks more efficient than ever before. These smart vehicles can “talk” to each other and to the road, allowing them to work together seamlessly. This wireless communication between vehicles and infrastructure is poised to transform commercial transportation as we know it.
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Most modern cars, including electric vehicles (EVs), use multiple electronic control units (ECUs) (sometimes as many as 100) to manage various subsystems. Leading EV manufacturers are now consolidating these various ECUs into a centralized computing architecture, with powerful GPU-driven central processing units taking on the burden of most control, AI, and telematics requirements. This zonal approach consolidates the car's electronics, reducing complexity and improving efficiency.
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The centralized computing unit is designed to handle most of the vehicle's control, artificial intelligence (AI) and telematics needs. Its advanced telemetry system can stream more than 500 monitoring points to the cloud, allowing constant analysis of performance, safety and efficiency. The system also includes a modular 800V battery pack with an in-house battery management system, a new central steering setup and an in-house designed lighting system including daytime running lights. Tight integration of the vehicle's core systems is essential to realise the full potential of electric and connected commercial transportation.
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Driving this revolution is vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) and vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I) communications. In this setup, vehicles can share real-time updates about their location, speed, and driving conditions over wireless data links. This allows vehicles to move in perfect synchronization, preventing fictitious traffic jams caused by unnecessary braking and acceleration.
The domino effect of sudden braking is a major cause of traffic congestion in cities. But with V2V, when one truck slows down, the trucks behind get an immediate warning and gradually slow down too. Smoother traffic flow not only saves time and fuel, but also makes roads safer by avoiding the sudden braking that often leads to rear-end collisions.
Imagine electric trucks having a sixth sense for traffic conditions far beyond the line of sight. Advanced route planning and optimization leverages a citywide data network to avoid congestion. As conditions change, they instantly re-plan the most efficient route. And by staying up-to-date on lane closures, accidents, and available parking spaces, they help you get to your destination smoothly without wasting time driving around the block. At the same time, they keep you safe by avoiding risky maneuvers like sudden lane changes and illegal parking.
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These smart vehicles don't just communicate, they cooperate. If they have to brake suddenly because of an unseen danger, they give the car behind them a split-second of warning, giving them precious time to gradually slow down. No more having to brake suddenly just because the car in front of you stops suddenly. This vehicle-to-vehicle communication helps to prevent dangerous situations and chain reactions before they happen.
In crowded urban areas, the electric truck can receive warnings about nearby pedestrians, cyclists and unseen small vehicles. If necessary, it automatically adjusts its speed to let you overtake safely. No more surprises at blind corners or intersections: the van's sensors extend awareness in all directions. In this context, a pedestrian detection system can also help by automatically braking if someone unexpectedly steps in front of the vehicle.
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But perhaps the biggest help will come from your car's smart driver assistance features. Automatic emergency braking, lane keeping assist, and adaptive cruise control take the heavy lifting out of your hands, keeping you fresh and focused on the road ahead, without tiring you out and making unsafe mistakes. With an array of cameras and sensors, these co-pilot systems are like an extra set of eyes keeping you safe from accidents.
Truck platooning is also happening: a digitally connected convoy of smart vans and trucks aerodynamically move together by synchronizing speed and distance. This slipstream effect significantly improves driving range and efficiency. Platooning reduces the need for lane changes, making driving smoother and reducing the risk of side collisions. The lead vehicle's route is shared with the entire platoon, coordinating their movements seamlessly.
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To realise all these high-tech benefits, automakers and infrastructure providers need to agree on common communication standards that allow different brands and systems to communicate freely. India has a unique opportunity to help set these global guidelines, customising them to suit local conditions such as traffic patterns and road characteristics.
Financial incentives, demand aggregation mechanisms, and partnerships with insurance companies can help small, local fleets go high-tech at low cost. The upfront costs of equipping trucks with connectivity and smart safety systems may be daunting. But the incentives to cover these upfront costs can pay dividends in the form of efficiency gains and insurance discounts for proven safety technologies.
But robust third-party validation and compliance testing must be a priority: vehicle systems and wireless communication protocols must reliably deliver the promised benefits, not just in controlled tests, but in the real world too. Only then can the public embrace these solutions with full confidence.
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India is transitioning to electric vehicles at a tremendous pace and has a unique opportunity to build a smarter, safer and sustainable transportation ecosystem from the ground up. Deploying intelligent mobility solutions with connected vehicle technologies and tightly integrated vehicle architectures can help make roads safer for all users – drivers, pedestrians and cyclists – while increasing productivity. So let's drive the transformation that delivers greater efficiency while protecting what matters most: human lives.
This article is written by Rohan Shravan, Founder and CEO, Tresa Motors.
