The customer and the challenge

Pioneers of zero-emission mobility

Sycada is a tech company that provides green transport solutions for over a thousand enterprises in 15 European countries. As a purpose-driven company, their mission is to have a positive contribution to make our planet more sustainable by accelerating the transition to zero-emission mobility. Sycada is already facilitating 30% of all electric buses in the Netherlands. Their goal is to become a market leader in zero-emission solutions worldwide, and help their international customers make this transition faster and less risky.

The rocky road from fossil to electric

Public transport operations can suddenly become unpredictable when you shift from diesel to electric vehicles (EVs). A diesel bus can drive 300 km with a full tank, while an electric one can typically run 100–150 km with a fully charged battery. When Sycada started supporting Eindhoven to make the city’s public transport emission-free, they had to increase their fleet from 34 diesel buses to 43 EVs to ensure that the transition wouldn’t cause unnecessary disruptions. Today, with the use of smarter online tools to gain more visibility over their fleets and manage them differently, this ‘uncertainty buffer’ in the fleet is being reduced. That’s where IoT comes into play.

Combatting uncertainty with data

Starting the journey towards zero-emission mobility make operations more uncertain. Managing a fleet of diesel buses requires static planning – driving 300 km a day, returning the bus to the depot, refuelling it and picking it up the next day. When city councils switched to EVs, they also had to adopt a more dynamic and adaptive approach. Traffic Control wanted to get alerts in case of potential operational problems, Operations wanted to support drivers to become more energy-efficient, and Fleet- and Charging Managers needed to overcome grid constraints and to monitor the state of health of the batteries. As Sycada helps their customers run their primary business, they can’t afford to compromise on quality. They were looking for a trusted partner who could help them handle massive amounts of data to better plan their operations.

How we helped them

Supporting global green ambitions

As Sycada works with international customers, seamless global coverage and predictability of IoT-related costs are a must for them. Network quality is also crucial to ensure the integrity and availability of their data. What’s more, they need solid administrative tools which allow them to manage SIM connectivity and subscriptions on a customer level. As we had already been working with Sycada for many years, they knew that our global IoT footprint and best-in-class telematics solutions could support their zero-emission ambitions worldwide.

Bringing data-driven operations to the next level

Sycada has been using IoT for more than a decade, but the adoption of EVs raised the need to monitor not only the vehicles’ status but also the batteries’ performance. In the past, they used to collect 4 MB per month from a single vehicle, which increased to 100 MB. Our high-quality network allows them to transfer more than a hundred data points per second from the SIM cards installed in their vehicles and charging points into our data hub. This enables Sycada to deal with massive amounts of integral data in a reliable and timely manner to ensure that they’re always on top of their operations.

Less delays and safer roads

IoT is critical both for Sycada and their customers, as many employees rely on data to carry out their daily tasks. Controllers inform drivers on which charging station is available and notify them when a vehicle is fully charged. Drivers also get alerts if the charging stops or the charger is not connected properly. This way, they can enjoy a coffee break while waiting without having to worry about schedule disruptions. IoT also helps Sycada encourage drivers to be safer on the roads. Sensors monitor drivers’ behaviour and provide them with feedback on their driving habits via an app to help them avoid accidents and become more energy-efficient.

Driving together towards a greener future

“The reason why we ended up with Vodafone as a key IoT partner is obviously the quality of the network. But that’s not the only thing,” says Kristian Winge, CEO of Sycada. Our IoT solutions have ensured a smooth transition to zero-emission operations without compromising the quality of Sycada’s services. Thanks to our partnership and continuous technical support, they can have peace of mind that the right data is always available when they need it. We’ve helped Sycada make public transport operations more sustainable and we’re ready to support them with a new challenge – switching from diesel vehicles to EVs in regional and international transport.