INSIGHTS / News

SETsquared Surrey member, Flock Mobility, an innovative, sustainable ‘transport as a service’ provider, has provided its shared electric fleet solution to electric vehicle (EV) manufacturer, Tesla.

Flock Mobility helps to redefine the way that employees and guests travel to or from the workplace, by offering them multiple sharing options within a single platform.

Tesla, the US electric vehicle and clean energy company, turned to Flock Mobility when they were battling to offer customers a suitable alternative to a loan car during car servicing periods. Customers would wait for available loan cars and service centres therefore always had excess service slot capacity. Flock partnered with Tesla to offer customers an ‘on demand’ shared electric guest service between home and the service centre.

As part of a simple sign-up process, customer service advisors pre-registered Tesla customers for the electric shared ride service. The Flock Mobility optimisation engine proposed various ride options based on this information and Tesla customers could then decide which option suited them best. The rides were dynamic, and the Flock algorithms adapted routes in real time to account for changes to customer schedules and traffic.

A combination of Tesla and London Electric Taxi vehicles was utilised, and the Flock optimisation engine accounted for vehicle charge requirements. Covid safety measures were implemented successfully with the use of partitions within the vehicles.

Terry Yoell, CEO of Flock Mobility, said: “Tesla are not only building more sustainable vehicles but also making better use of these vehicles by introducing our shared fleet solution. Our platform helps to improve the actual utilisation of the electric vehicles which is essential if we want to reduce transport emissions and hit net zero targets by 2050.

By offering multiple sharing options within a single platform, we aim to provide the same convenience from a shared electric fleet as people currently gain from their private vehicles.

“In addition to the shared Guest service our platform also offers a dynamic Commute service for employees and Self-Drive feature. The commute product uses a series of algorithms to match people that live nearby and offer them rides to and from work. Our Professional drivers pick up a maximum of 5 or 6 people per trip and we remove an average of 18-20 private vehicles from the road per week. Outside of commute hours, the same fleet of electric vehicles are based on site and can be booked for self-drive purposes by the minute or hour. Employers are now able to offer a viable alternative to the grey fleet and employees also benefit from potential personal use. The weekend hire option is a firm favourite with employees. For corporates looking to improve their sustainability credentials, our solution provides a definitive way to measure and reduce transport emissions.”