Maximizing Efficiency in Fleet Electrification with Yard and Charge Management Systems

The transition to electric fleets is underway, for transit agencies and fleet operators, navigating this shift requires the right tools. Adopting electric buses adds unique challenges to a fleet's daily operations. Technologies such as yard management and charge management systems can address these challenges efficiently to unlock substantial energy savings, improve uptime, and ensure vehicles are available for their scheduled routes.

At our recent webinar, we invited GIRO to explore these points in-depth. Below is a comprehensive breakdown of key insights and recommendations from the discussion.

As their fleets electrify, many transit agencies and fleet operators are finding benefits in implementing Yard Management Systems and Charge Management Systems (CMS). Together, these two software systems can help the agency streamline depot operations, optimize fleet deployment, manage energy resources, and maintain service reliability.

Ex. GIRO’s HASTUS yard management solution

1. Vehicle Assignment

• Allocates vehicles effectively based on characteristics like size, charge state (State of Charge or SoC), driver qualifications, and maintenance status.
• When integrated with a Charge Management System (CMS), the Yard Management System can ensure that vehicles with adequate charge levels are assigned to the correct routes to avoid disruptions.

2. Parking Management

• Strategically organizes vehicle parking to maximize limited depot space, particularly as additional charging infrastructure takes up room within depots.
• Accounts for real-time operational needs, such as vehicles requiring maintenance, refueling, cleaning, or charging.

3. Vehicle Readiness

• Facilitates preventive maintenance planning to smooth out workflows and minimize vehicle downtime.
• Ensures all vehicles are ready to operate each day, with sufficient charge and minimal surprises.
• Optimizes and provides realistic charging time frames, and ensures vehicles are parked at locations where they can be charged.

Ex. The Mobility House’s ChargePilot®

1. Schedule-Based Charging

• Uses fleet schedules from the Yard Management System to ensure vehicles are charged and ready within their operational timelines, avoiding delays.
• Schedules charging in coordination with utility rate structures, avoiding demand charges and reducing operational costs.

2. Integration with Energy Infrastructure

• Manages energy distribution, prioritizing high-urgency vehicles to optimize available charging capacity.
• Works with distributed energy resources like solar panels, battery storage, and backup generators to provide a sustainable and resilient charging strategy.

3. Data and Error Management

• Provides operators with a real-time and historical view of charging sessions
• Delivers charger error notifications and remote control error resolution

A standout theme from the webinar was the importance of connecting Yard and Charge Management Systems. By combining these systems, operators access a more reliable and efficient system capable of automated, intelligent decision-making based on live data.

Bidirectional Communication

Through industry standards like VDV 463, YMS and CMS systems exchange real-time data. Yard management systems receive live charging information from CMS, including error notifications, charge levels, and readiness timing, while CMS picks up detailed schedules, targeted charge levels and vehicle assignments from the YMS.

Operational Optimization

Both systems use real-time data to collaborate seamlessly. For example, if a charging station error occurs, the yard management can detect the issue in real time and reassign vehicles or chargers to avoid delays.

Comprehensive Visibility

Fleet managers get full visibility into bus/vehicle locations, battery statuses, and charging progress, enabling informed decision-making across all operational layers.

One transit agency used integrated YMS + CMS to slash its energy demand peak by 57% and achieve annual cost savings of $66,000 simply by optimizing charging schedules. This case highlights the critical role that intelligent, connected systems play in managing fleet electrification at scale.

Fleet managers face a variety of challenges when transitioning to electric fleets. Here’s how yard and charge management systems tackle some of the most common issues:

1. Grid Capacity Constraints

Scaling up EV fleets often leads to exceeding grid capacity. Charge management systems like The Mobility House’s ChargePilot can handle these limitations with automated load management and site-integrated load management, preventing costly grid upgrades.

2. Limited Yard Space

New charging stations and equipment often reduce available parking. A YMS like GIRO’s HASTUS, optimizes space by coordinating parking and pull-out sequences based on operational requirements.

3. Preventive Maintenance

Scheduling preventive maintenance minimizes vehicle downtime and extends vehicle life, reducing costs and inefficiencies.

4. Battery Degradation

Smart yard management tools monitor vehicle health and dynamically allocate vehicles with different battery conditions, ensuring optimal use and extending battery lifespan.

5. Disruptions in Service

Integrated systems allow for quick reshuffling of vehicle assignments in the event of a disruption, such as power outages or charging station failures.

1. Choose Tools Using Industry Standards like VDV 463

Avoid one-size-fits-all platforms by adopting open standards, such as VDV 463. These standards ensure interoperability between software systems, allowing fleet operators to choose the best solutions without being locked into one vendor.

2. Start Small, Then Scale

Begin electrification with a manageable portion of the fleet to identify challenges and adapt your systems. Choose tools that are scalable as your fleet grows, ensuring long-term flexibility.

3. Integrate for Real-Time Decision-Making

Connecting yard and charge management systems ensures that your operations are data-driven, responsive, and efficient. It streamlines deployment, avoids costly downtime, and facilitates energy savings.

4. Optimize Energy Usage and Costs

A good CMS can coordinate charging schedules to align with utility rates, shift charging to off-peak hours, and accommodate distributed energy resources, resulting in substantial cost savings.

With the right tools and strategies, organizations can successfully transition to an electric fleet, achieve sustainability goals, and streamline operations.

To learn more about connecting advanced systems like GIRO’s HASTUS and The Mobility House’s ChargePilot® for your fleet, contact us today.

Get started now and maximize the full potential of your electric fleet.