Hitachi Rolls Out Fleet Electrification Platform to Assist Companies in EV Transition

Hitachi has launched a new digital platform called ZeroCarbon, aimed at supporting businesses in transitioning their commercial fleets to electric vehicles (EVs). The platform offers a range of tools covering planning, charging, battery management, and fleet operations, with the goal of simplifying the electrification process.

The ZeroCarbon platform is organized into four main components: Fleet, Charge, BatteryManager, and Strategy. According to Hitachi, the platform is intended to provide end-to-end support, from initial planning and financing to the daily management of electric vehicles and infrastructure.

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ZeroCarbon Fleet integrates charging and battery data to offer insights into vehicle performance and operational safety. The system can also identify possible revenue opportunities, such as using surplus charging capacity for commercial purposes or repurposing batteries for energy storage.

ZeroCarbon Charge enables real-time monitoring of charging activity, allowing for optimized load balancing and cost management through smart charging schedules. The tool supports a range of commercial vehicle types and helps operators shift charging to off-peak periods.

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ZeroCarbon BatteryManager provides a dashboard view of battery status across the fleet. It includes features such as warranty validation, safety alerts, and health forecasts, along with battery financing options through a ‘battery-as-a-service’ model.

The final component, ZeroCarbon Strategy, offers consulting services to help businesses assess their current fleet operations and plan for electrification. Services include cost of ownership analysis, infrastructure assessments, and power requirement planning.

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Stig Tvergrov of logistics company Posten Bring, which is using the platform, said it helped the company better understand its electric vehicle operations. “Through our deployment of ZeroCarbon Charge, we achieved complete visibility into the health and performance of our key battery assets,” Tvergrov said. “It led to us having complete visibility over both vehicles and chargers.”