With petrol prices continuing to rise, fleet budgets are under increasing pressure. For many organisations, even small inefficiencies can quickly add up. By reducing fuel costs, you can improve efficiency, safety, and sustainability.

Here are five practical ways organisations are using Smartrak and different approaches to save on fuel costs – starting with the fastest, easiest wins:

1. Identify and Reduce Idling to Cut Fuel Waste

Unnecessary idling is one of the quickest ways fuel costs can creep up. Vehicles may idle during drop-offs, site visits, or while waiting for keys or passengers - often without anyone realising how often it’s happening. Even modest reductions in idling can lead to meaningful fuel savings over time.

What you can do:

• Use reporting to identify idling - you can understand where, when, and how long vehicles idle. Smartrak’s Idle Breakdown, and Daily Usage reports can provide these insights.
• Encourage drivers to switch off engines when stationary

2. Improve Driver Behaviour

Aggressive acceleration, speeding, and harsh braking all have a direct impact on fuel efficiency. Safer, more controlled driving reduces fuel consumption while also improving overall road safety.

What you can do:

• Monitor driving behaviours such as speeding, harsh acceleration, and harsh braking across drivers to understand risk patterns and trends.
• Provide feedback using data to provide constructive feedback to drivers
• Provide training to encourage smoother, more fuel-efficient driving habits

3. Eliminate Unnecessary Trips and Under-Utilised Vehicles

Many fleets don’t have a fuel problem – they have a utilisation problem. Vehicles making short or simple trips that could be shared, vehicles sitting idle while others are overused, or multiple vehicles being used separately when one would do. Reducing just a handful of unnecessary trips per vehicle can add up to significant annual fuel savings.

What you can do:

• Share and identify trips that could be shared or avoided altogether
• Identify infrequently used or inefficient vehicles to understand utilisation and improve optimisation
• Make data-driven decisions which justify changes to fleet size or vehicle allocation with evidence

4. Use Pool and Shared Vehicles More Efficiently

Multiple single-occupancy trips burn far more fuel than necessary. By coordinating trips and encouraging alternative transport options, organisations cut fuel costs, reduce vehicle wear, and promote greener travel. Smartrak’s shared vehicle management solution, PoolCar, allows organisations to:

• Track and manage vehicle bookings with passenger manifests if multiple team members are travelling the same route
• Present fit-for-purpose and fuel-efficient vehicles when making bookings
• Book other shared assets like e-scooters, or bikes for shorter, inner-city and local trips

5. Transition to EVs - When the Data Says You’re Ready

Switching to electric vehicles is one of the most effective ways to reduce fuel spend across your fleet.

Smartrak supports confident EV transition by:

• Identifying vehicles suitable for EV replacement
• Prioritising EVs during booking (where applicable) to maximise utilisation
• Providing battery and charging visibility to reduce range anxiety

This ensures EVs are deployed where they deliver the most value, avoiding unnecessary petrol use while supporting a smooth transition.

Take Control of Fuel Costs

Rising fuel prices may be outside your control - but how efficiently your fleet operates isn’t.

By focusing on immediate behaviour changes, better utilisation, and data-led decisions, organisations can reduce fuel spend now – while laying the groundwork for longer-term transition to more fuel-efficient vehicles. combining EV adoption, smarter vehicle and asset use, data-driven insights, and driver behaviour monitoring.

Smartrak gives Fleet Managers the visibility, and confidence to act, justify decisions, and keep costs under control.

Get in touch today to better understand how Smartrak can make your fleet more fuel-efficient.

Telematics and GPS tracking are standard tools for organisations to manage fleets, reduce risk, and keep employees safe. But what happens when work vehicles are used outside office hours? Should organisations track and report on drivers after hours? The answer requires a careful balance between safety, operational efficiency, and personal privacy.

Safety vs privacy: the key principles

It is essential to understand that after-hours monitoring is about risk management, not “tracking people”. Let’s take the perspective of how a driver drives being more important than where they drive.

Risky driver behaviour

After-hours monitoring: the pros and cons

The choice to monitor after-hours often comes down to safety versus privacy.

Reasons to Monitor	Reasons Against Monitoring
Safety: Identifies risk patterns such as overspeeding, harsh braking, and fatigue that could lead to accidents outside work hours.	Privacy concerns: Employees have a reasonable expectation that personal activities conducted during their own time remain private.
Fatigue management: Combines work and personal driving hours to prevent over-tired drivers on the road.	Trust and morale: Monitoring can feel intrusive; like personal time is being scrutinised, reducing employee trust, leading to a less positive workplace culture.
Vehicle management: Tracks mileage, wear, and tear from personal use, helping with maintenance planning and budgeting.	Legal and industrial risks: Unions or workplace agreements may prevent tracking outside work hours.
Risk profiling: Helps create a broader understanding of driver behaviour to target coaching and safety interventions.	Proportionality: Most personal journeys are low-risk; over-monitoring may consume resources without significant safety benefits.

Legal obligations in New Zealand and Australia

Under New Zealand’s Health and Safety at Work Act 2015 and Australia’s Work Health and Safety (WHS) laws, employers have a duty of care to ensure the health and safety of their staff while they are using company vehicles, regardless of whether this occurs during work hours or outside them. This means:

• Organisations can be held responsible if an employee has an incident while driving a company vehicle outside office hours.
• Monitoring and managing risk, including overspeeding, fatigue, or unsafe driving, can form part of demonstrating compliance with these laws.
• Any monitoring must still respect privacy obligations under the Privacy Act (NZ) or the relevant state and federal privacy frameworks in Australia.

This legal context reinforces that after-hours monitoring can be a proactive safety measure, provided it is implemented responsibly and transparently.

Relevant Laws and Acts

• Australia - Work Health and Safety ACT 2011 - Australian WHS frameworks (adopted across states and territories via model WHS Acts) require businesses and PCBUs to ensure the health and safety of workers and others so far as is reasonably practicable by identifying hazards and managing risks from work activities. This duty can include identifying and managing risks arising from driving or vehicle use by workers.
• New Zealand - Health and Safety at Work Act 2015 - Primary Duty of Care (s 36) - New Zealand’s health and safety law places a primary duty of care on Persons Conducting a Business or Undertaking (PCBUs) to ensure, as far as reasonably practicable, the health and safety of workers and others whose work the PCBU influences. This duty can extend to safety risks associated with driving a company vehicle, whether during formal work hours or outside them. It also includes monitoring the conditions and health of workers to prevent injury or illness.

Viewing driver behaviour while respecting privacy

Smartrak offers a Dashboard with our GPS Telematics solutions that provides a snapshot of how your fleet is being utilised including driver safety scores and overspeeding events. The dashboard also offers top-level insights on how your fleet and people are performing.

Our dashboard helps organisations to identify trends and address these through training, internal communications, and policy design opportunities.

Other reports available through our GPS Telematics and pooled vehicle management solutions include several driver-based reports (overspeed severity report, overspeed period report, and trip reports) for more detailed reporting on a vehicle-by-vehicle and driver basis.

Implementing a responsible approach

For organisations considering after-hours monitoring, best practice includes:

1. Establish a clear Vehicle Use Policy: Define boundaries for personal use, outline what data is collected, and explain how it will be used. A policy ensures monitoring is applied responsibly and supports drivers rather than penalising them.
2. Respect privacy and legal requirements: Ensure monitoring complies with industrial agreements, union rules, and privacy legislation. Reassure your people with who is accessing, viewing and using the data and for what reasons.
3. Focus on behaviour, not the person: Track risk-relevant metrics like speed, braking, and hours driven rather than destinations.
4. Fatigue management: Monitoring total hours behind the wheel - both work and personal - helps prevent fatigue-related incidents, protecting both employees and the public.
5. Communicate transparently: Make it clear that monitoring is about safety and risk, not surveillance.
6. Leverage technology wisely: Use telematics to provide alerts, coaching, and reports that enhance safety rather than controlling personal behaviour.

Tools and support

Smartrak supports organisations to implement safe and responsible fleet monitoring to help protect both drivers and vehicles.

To assist your organisation, try our free templates:

• Vehicle Use Policy Template - make it easier to balance safety and privacy at your organisation
• Telematics Privacy Policy Template - implement a clear policy that informs staff about how telematics data is collected, used, and protected.

Should you monitor after hours?

After-hours monitoring does not have to mean compromising privacy. When applied thoughtfully, after-hours monitoring strengthens safety, supports well-rested drivers, and ensures vehicles are used responsibly - all while respecting employees’ personal time.

Get in touch

Find out how our GPS telematics and driver safety solutions can strengthen safety across your organisation and help you make decisions around monitoring drivers' driver after hours or not. Get in touch now.

In healthcare and community services, we spend every day thinking deeply about the care we provide - but how often do we pause to consider our own safety on the road or when working alone?

Protecting staff is just as critical as caring for patients. For teams travelling to deliver essential services, particularly those working solo, rurally or under pressure, ensuring safety and compliance with health and safety laws is essential.

Compliance responsibilities

Under New Zealand’s Health and Safety at Work Act 2015 (HSWA), organisations are legally responsible for identifying, monitoring, and managing risks to workers’ health and safety. Vehicles used for work are considered part of the workplace, meaning any staff travelling on duty fall under these obligations.

Under Australia’s Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (WHS Act), organisations - referred to as a Person Conducting a Business or Undertaking (PCBU) - have a legal duty to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the health and safety of workers while they are at work. Vehicles used for work purposes are considered part of the workplace, meaning any staff driving or travelling on duty are covered by these obligations. This includes managing risks associated with driving, vehicle condition, fatigue, and working alone.

Failing to manage these risks can result in serious consequences for your staff and your organisation, including injuries, legal penalties, or reputational damage.

Healthcare and community organisations face unique challenges:

• Community workers and medical professionals visiting patients alone
• Staff transporting critical medical supplies or sensitive equipment
• Tight budgets, growing service demands, and complex scheduling

These factors make it essential to have a robust safety and compliance system in place.

How Smartrak supports compliance

Smartrak offers solutions to keep your organisation compliant and your staff safe:

1. Vehicle and driver compliance tracking

Automate checks and scheduling to ensure every vehicle is safe and roadworthy. This includes pre-start and post-trip inspections (SmartStart), maintenance reminders, Warrant of Fitness scheduling, driver licence checks through PoolCar (pooled vehicle management) and KeyMaster (key cabinet), and fleet servicing, and RUC management.

2. Driving behaviour monitoring and incident reporting

Identify unsafe driving behaviours, reduce accident risks, and maintain evidence of due diligence. Smartrak offers driver behaviour monitoring including Overspeed Monitoring, Harsh Driving, Driver Identification, Crash Detection (with emergency alerts), and behavioural analytics reporting and dashboards.

3. Lone worker protection and emergency alerts

Monitor staff working alone and respond instantly if an emergency occurs. Smartrak offers Lone Worker Safety Devices (cellular and satellite) with emergency alerts and check-ins; vehicle GPS telematics for real-time location tracking and geofencing with alerts, Crash Detection, and emergency dash switches.

4. Risk analysis and evidence for due diligence

Demonstrate ongoing compliance and continuous improvement. Smartrak offers a range of reports and dashboards to understand risk and take action.

Integrating compliance into daily operations

With Smartrak, compliance is not an added task - it’s embedded into your operations, giving you peace of mind that your staff are protected, vehicles are safe, and your organisation is meeting legal requirements.

Take action today

Protect your staff, reduce risk, and simplify compliance. Request a demo of Smartrak’s fleet and safety solutions to see how your organisation can stay safe, efficient, and compliant.

Many fleet managers think of Chain of Responsibility (CoR) as something that only applies to heavy trucks and freight operations. In reality, CoR can affect light fleets too - vehicles like cars, vans, utilities, and small delivery trucks - whenever a business’s decisions influence how those vehicles are used on the road.

What is Chain of Responsibility?

CoR is a legal framework that makes everyone in the transport chain accountable for road safety - not just the driver. It recognises that decisions made off the road - scheduling, loading, vehicle maintenance, route planning, or even pressuring a driver to meet deadlines - can influence safety outcomes.

For light fleets, CoR applies in many common scenarios:

• Expecting staff to drive excessive distances in a short timeframe
• Failing to maintain vehicles or ensure tyres, brakes, and safety equipment are fit for purpose
• Loading vans, utes or cars in a way that affects vehicle stability or braking
• Scheduling routes that encourage speeding or unsafe driving practices

Even though these vehicles are smaller than heavy trucks, unsafe decisions can still lead to accidents - and the organisation can be held legally responsible.

New Zealand (NZTA)	Australia (NHVR)
CoR is enforced through the New Zealand Transport Agency and applies to any party whose decisions influence driver compliance and safety.	The Heavy Vehicle National Law (HVNL) outlines CoR responsibilities. Principles apply to light fleets used for business purposes where the organisation influences driving behaviour.
Who it applies to: • Fleet managers or supervisors directing staff driving patterns • Companies setting delivery schedules or rostering that encourage unsafe driving • Failing to maintain vehicles or provide proper load restraint	Key obligations: • Ensuring vehicle safety - vehicles must be well-maintained and fit for use • Managing driver behaviour - prevent unsafe driving, speeding, or fatigue • Safe scheduling and workloads - allow enough time to complete tasks safely • Load management - even in vans/Utes, improperly loaded vehicles can create risks
Key takeaway: If your business influences how a driver operates a light vehicle, CoR applies.	Key takeaway: Businesses must take reasonably practicable steps to eliminate or minimise risks. Failing to do so can result in fines or enforcement action.
Penalties can include fines and enforcement action even if no accident occurs, because CoR focuses on preventing risk, not just punishing crashes.	Non-compliance can trigger fines, enforcement notices, or prosecution even without an incident.

How Light Fleet Operators Can Manager CoR Risk

By understanding CoR, even light fleet operators can reduce accidents, protect drivers, and stay compliant with both NZ and Australian law.

1. Maintain vehicles regularly - brakes, tyres, lights, and safety systems must be checked and serviced.
2. Set realistic schedules - avoid pressuring staff to drive long hours or rush deliveries.
3. Train staff on safe driving practices - including vehicle loading, speed limits, and fatigue management.
4. Use telematics and monitoring systems - track driving behaviour through GPS telematics, compliance and Driver Identification tools, to alert managers to unsafe practices, and support compliance documentation.
5. Document policies and processes - clear procedures show that the organisation has taken proactive steps to manage risk.

Smartrak and CoR Compliance

Integrating our solutions including fleet telematics, fleet servicing, pool vehicle management, Driver Identification, and or range of driver safety solutions with CoR responsibilities provides a clear view of your fleet. Monitoring driver behaviour, vehicle usage, and load safety supports a safer, compliant light fleet while demonstrating due diligence under the law.

References:

1. NZ Transport Agency. Chain of Responsibility
2. National Heavy Vehicle Regulator. Chain of Responsibility – Primary Duty

2 September 2025 - Hamilton, New Zealand

AoG appointment reinforces Smartrak’s role as a trusted partner for public sector fleet safety, efficiency, and sustainability solutions.

Smartrak is pleased to announce its appointment as a panel provider for the All of Government (AoG) Fleet Management Services contract, led by the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE).

The AoG Fleet Management Services contract provides agencies with access to established, experienced and specialised providers, including Smartrak, offering telematics, and compliance management.

By using the panel, agencies can streamline procurement and avoid lengthy tenders while securing services tailored to their needs.

Smartrak is already working with many healthcare, education, and other public sector government organisations every day.

"Joining the AoG Fleet Management Services panel solidifies our longstanding commitment to government agencies across New Zealand,” says Casey Molloy, Smartrak CEO.

“Over the past years, we’ve been focused on delivering tailored fleet management and safety solutions directly to agencies. Being part of this panel now allows us to provide those same trusted services more efficiently through a framework designed to simplify procurement, support transparency, and deliver value."

Agencies engaging Smartrak through the AoG panel benefit from cost savings, transparent administration, and operational flexibility. Eligible organisations, including government agencies, state-funded schools, and other publicly funded entities can now sign up to the contract via the MBIE procurement portal and immediately begin leveraging Smartrak’s solutions to streamline their operations and improve fleet management and safety delivery.

About Smartrak
Smartrak is a leading provider of fleet management, telematics, and safety solutions in New Zealand and Australia. Renowned for serving critical public sector clients, Smartrak enables organisations to optimise fleet performance, keep people safe, and meet sustainability goals.

For media or procurement enquiries, please contact:
Rachel Knopp
Marketing Coordinator, Smartrak

rachel.knopp@smartrak.com

New Zealand Government building photo by twinkledee.

Secure and manage your fleet and asset keys with KeyMaster

KeyMaster automates the check-in and check-out process, so you or the person in charge of keys doesn’t have to. It offers a centralised location to store all of your fleet’s keys and ensures that only the person with a valid booking can take a key.

KeyMaster: smarter key control made simple

• Know where your keys are – KeyMaster links keys to PoolCar bookings, so only the correct key goes out and staff can track it at every check-out and check-in.
• 24/7 self-service access – Users enter their booking number on the touchscreen to check out or return keys quickly, without staff support.
• Record trip details on the spot – Capture odometer readings, fuel levels, damage notes, and a photo of the user at each check-out and check-in for security and compliance.
• Controlled, booking-based access – The system restricts access by licence, department, or cost centre. If users don’t collect keys within 30 minutes, it cancels the booking automatically.
• Reliable operation during outages – With battery backup and multiple connections, KeyMaster keeps working even if power or network fails. A mechanical override ensures access in emergencies.
• Real-time alerts – Receive notifications for overdue returns, unused bookings, or power loss so you can proactively manage your keys.

Watch our short video to see how effortlessly you can collect and drop-off a key with KeyMaster.

Get in touch for a full demo

Discover why KeyMaster is the easiest, most reliable way to control your fleet keys — reducing risk, saving time, and improving operational efficiency.

Contact us today to see KeyMaster in action.

Across government and healthcare, we know there are dedicated people working hard to manage their fleets and assets.

Yet New Zealand ranks fourth-last in the OECD for public asset management¹ - the result of decades of underinvestment, ageing fleets, and fragmented records. Without complete visibility or reliable data, it’s difficult to make informed, strategic decisions.

To drive meaningful change, organisations need to uncover inefficiencies, improve utilisation, and build a clearer picture of their fleets — creating the foundation for lasting improvement.

Government’s need for data-driven asset management

The New Zealand Government’s Draft National Infrastructure Plan calls for smarter investment, future-focused resilience, and improved infrastructure stewardship. It reflects a growing recognition that data-driven asset management isn’t just a compliance task - it’s a strategic imperative.

For government agencies and public organisations - especially councils and publicly funded entities like health services - embracing a data-led approach to fleet and asset management is no longer optional. It’s essential for unlocking long-term public value, improving sustainability, and ensuring every dollar is spent where it delivers the greatest benefit to communities.

The challenge: underutilisation, aging fleets, and poor visibility

New Zealand ranks fourth to last in the OECD for public asset management¹, and the consequences are clear: reactive maintenance, poor asset utilisation, and high long-term costs. Many agencies report non-compliance with Cabinet expectations regarding asset registers, depreciation funding, and asset management plans.

The result? Strategic investment is frequently sidelined by the need to ‘keep things running’.

The impact on fleet operations

• The average government fleet contains 21% surplus vehicles, with some organisations reaching as high as 37%².
• Light vehicles over 15 years old make up around 39% of New Zealand’s national fleet, contributing to higher emissions and running costs³.
• EV adoption is stalling after the removal of incentive schemes, despite public sector decarbonisation targets.

At the same time, agencies face increased service demand, budget constraints, and mounting pressure to meet both climate and economic outcomes. For operational and executive leaders, the question is no longer whether to act, but how to act effectively.

The policy shift: new procurement rules and rising expectations

Proposed policy reforms include introducing an “economic benefit test”- requiring agencies to demonstrate how procurement decisions support New Zealand’s broader economic goals.

While these changes reduce red tape and favour local suppliers, they also introduce uncertainty. Without clear mandates, agencies must now balance short-term budget pressures with long-term sustainability and risk outcomes. This makes accurate, timely data more valuable than ever - especially when justifying fleet investment, managing operational risk, and optimising resource allocation.

The solution: strategic asset management built on data

At Smartrak, we help government and healthcare organisations transition from reactive, fragmented asset management to insight-driven management.

Our pool car booking (PoolCar) and telematics solutions modernise fleet and asset operations - supporting government expectations around compliance, reporting, and sustainability, including reporting to gain insights on FBT, maintenance, optimisation, budget allocation, and emissions.

With Smartrak, you can:

• Build a single source of truth for all assets, including age, utilisation, maintenance history, and location
• Identify and retire surplus vehicles, to right-size fleets, and reallocate resources to priority areas
• Enable pool booking and automated scheduling to increasing utilisation
• Monitor driver behaviour, safety, and lone worker risks, with real-time GPS, alerts, lone worker safety devices, and reporting
• Support electrification by making EVs just another pool vehicle - with real-time battery charge visible from back at the office, and EV bookings automatically shuffled to meet trip demands based on battery charge
• Provide evidence through reporting for funding bids, budget justifications, or policy compliance

Healthcare and government organisations can move beyond compliance and unlock real, measurable public value.

Addressing emissions, without the guesswork

While the removal of EV mandates introduces a risk of stagnation, Smartrak’s emissions reporting provides a way forward. Smartrak’s Emissions Report offers a simple, automated way to track your fleet’s greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs) for all vehicle types. By combining verified vehicle emissions profiles with real-time telematics data, it delivers accurate, standards-aligned reporting - no spreadsheets required.

This empowers COOs, CFOs, and asset managers to:

• Build evidence-backed cases for EV investment or lower-emitting vehicles
• Avoid overcapitalisation by targeting the right vehicles for replacement
• Identify underutilised assets that can be retired or redeployed
• Plan EV charging infrastructure

For example, health fleets operating in rural regions can use Smartrak to determine which vehicles and locations are best suited for EV transition, while ensuring continuity of service.

Fleet safety and staff wellbeing

Health and safety is a top concern across government sectors - especially in mobile and remote workforces such as health, social services, or infrastructure maintenance, where staff may work in rural locations or engage with members of the public in unpredictable or sensitive situations.

Smartrak supports a proactive safety culture with:

• Real-time driver tracking, and Driver Identification
• In-vehicle duress buttons and Lone Worker Personal Safety Devices
• Crash Detection and Rollover vehicle alerts
• Driver behaviour scoring and overspeed reporting to encourage safer driving habits

These features reduce risk, support lone workers, and provide auditable data for health and safety reporting - meeting and exceeding regulatory requirements.

Partnering for a smarter, more sustainable future in the public’s interest

Smartrak has a proven track record supporting councils, health boards, and government agencies. We understand the strategic and operational challenges you face - and we have the solutions to help you meet them.

From pool vehicle optimisation to vehicle tracking, to budget tracking, EV planning, and lone worker safety, our solutions are built for the unique demands of the public sector.

Contact us today

Whether you're looking to consolidate your asset register, optimise fleet usage, or plan for the future, Smartrak is ready to help.

New Zealand Government building photo by twinkledee.

Fleet Managers may worry that telematics devices can drain a vehicle’s 12-volt battery. In reality, these devices are engineered to draw very low current - typically around 80 milliamps (mA) - when the vehicle is off, and many enter a low-power sleep mode during inactivity to further preserve battery life.

When it comes to battery drain, instead of telematics being the culprit, telematics can in fact help to reveal the reasons why your 12-volt battery is going flat.

How telematics collects battery data

Telematics devices are connected to a vehicle’s battery either directly, via the vehicle’s CANbus (Controller Area Network bus), or via the OBD port in that vehicle. Data is collected to provide insights into vehicle performance, battery health, and other key metrics.

How telematics devices use power

When might a telematics device drain a 12-volt battery?

It’s important to note that a telematics device’s draw on a 12-volt vehicle battery can vary widely. Settings on a telematics device are often customisable, and many devices can be configured to enter deep sleep automatically after a period of inactivity. Features like frequent GPS tracking, always-on cellular connections, or wake-on-motion settings will all increase power draw. If a vehicle sits unused for days or weeks a low standby current from the telematics unit can drain the battery over time.

When is a battery “flat”?

12-volt batteries in EVs and ICE vehicles

• ICE vehicles typically use a 12-volt battery to power all electrical systems.
• EVs have a 12-volt battery for low-power electronics (lights, infotainment, door locks, safety features) and a traction battery (high-voltage or HV battery) to power the motor and main vehicle functions like heating, cooling, and charging.

How to measure a 12-volt battery charge

Beyond telematics, there are other ways to measure battery charge, including:

Vehicle issues diagnosed through 12-volt battery data

By tracking 12-volt battery voltage levels, Fleet Managers can detect anomalies that may indicate underlying issues.

ICE vehicle issues diagnosed

The following are some real-world examples where 12-volt battery data has helped diagnose issues in ICE vehicles.

1. Phantom battery drain - hidden electrical fault - A vehicle’s battery consistently showed low voltage readings, even after full charges. Telematics data revealed overnight power drain, despite the ignition being off. Diagnostics uncovered an improperly wired aftermarket accessory continuously drawing power.
2. Starter motor failure - slow cranking alert - Telematics recorded consistent voltage drops during ignition, even though the battery appeared healthy. Maintenance logs noted repeated slow start issues, which were traced to a failing starter motor drawing excessive current.
3. Key-on (using accessories) without the engine running -Telematics data revealed frequent use of accessories (e.g., lights, infotainment) with the engine off, leading to battery drain. Fleet managers implemented driver training and automatic shutoff systems to mitigate this issue.
4. Temperature-related battery performance drops - A fleet operating in extreme cold experienced unexpected battery failures. Telematics data flagged sudden voltage drops during early morning startups, correlating with low temperatures. The solution was to implement insulated battery covers and scheduled pre-heating to mitigate cold weather effects.
5. Fleet-wide battery health monitoring - proactive replacement - Aggregated voltage data across a fleet revealed that some vehicles consistently operated at lower voltages. Telematics insights predicted which batteries were nearing end-of-life, allowing for proactive replacements before failures occurred.

EV issues diagnosed

The following are some real-world examples where 12-volt battery data has helped diagnose issues in EVs.

1. Phantom drain (parasitic loss) - Excessive battery drain while parked can be caused by always-on background systems such as thermal regulation, connectivity modules, or software updates including a vehicle’s third-party apps communicating back to the vehicle manufacturers.
2. Charging interruptions - A sudden stop in charging is often due to charge station faults, damaged cables, or restrictions from the vehicle's battery management system (BMS).
3. Slow charging speeds - Often caused by a degraded traction battery, poor environmental conditions, or EVSE (charging station) limitations.
4. State of Charge (SoC) reporting errors - Incorrect charge readings may be due to faulty sensors or software miscalculations, which can be diagnosed through voltage trends and anomaly detection via telematics.

EV Traction battery faults caused by 12-Volt battery issues

On the flipside, a faulty 12-volt battery can cause issues in an EV. Although EVs rely on a high-voltage traction battery for propulsion, a weak or faulty 12-volt battery can prevent the vehicle from operating altogether. Here are common problems tied to the 12-volt system:

1. Vehicle wake-up and control systems: The 12-volt battery powers essential control units, including those that manage the traction battery. If the 12-volt battery is flat, the EV may fail to start or appear completely unresponsive—even with a fully charged traction battery.
2. Charging system dependencies: Most EVs recharge the 12-volt battery via the high-voltage traction battery through a DC-DC converter. If this converter fails, or the 12-volt battery is compromised, the vehicle may not charge or operate correctly.
3. High-voltage safety interlocks: Critical safety systems rely on a functioning 12-volt supply to engage or release interlocks. A failed 12-volt battery can disable access to the traction system or force the EV into restricted mode.

Monitoring battery health with Smartrak’s Solutions

There are several ways Smartrak's solutions can assist with monitoring 12-volt vehicle battery health.

• Telematics
  • Our AVL GPS trackers perform a battery diagnostic check every four hours
  • Fleet Managers can set up battery notifications and be alerted when a battery is low or has gone flat
  • A Battery Status Report is available through our telematics system
  • Battery status can also be viewed in Smartrak’s maps interface by hovering over a vehicle to see individual details
  • Telematics can be used to collect not only battery data, but key on/off, idle time, booking period, and more. This data contributes to Smartrak’s Utilisation Report, and Trip Report which are useful tools for homing in on underutilised vehicles, and vehicles with long periods of non-usage.
• Pool Vehicle Booking System (PoolCar)
  • If GPS tracking is not installed, PoolCar reports can provide insights into vehicle usage and optimisation. This helps to identify vehicles at risk of 12-volt battery issues due to infrequent use.

Smartrak customers can find further information in our Self Help resources.

Conclusion

By monitoring 12-volt battery health through data, fleet managers can detect hidden non-battery issues before they lead to breakdowns or other issues. If you do not have access to telematics battery data, try adding regular battery checks to your maintenance calendar and/or trickle charge key vehicles or ATVs, specialist vehicles, and call-out vehicles.

By leveraging data and running reports, fleets managers can improve vehicle reliability and operational efficiency, and monitor and manage battery health - along with eliminating a telematics device as the culprit of 12-volt battery drain.

Get in touch to find out more about how our solutions can help manage 12-volt batteries in your fleet.

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References: Different Car Battery Voltages: What You Need to Know