Fleet Management
The unavoidable fuel question

A company car is an engine with more or less power, tires and a driving style that directly determines fuel consumption. Suffice to say that with a liter of diesel now flirting with 1.551 euros and a liter of Euro 95 reaching even more impressive heights at 1.742 euros, not taking care of consumption is like shooting yourself in the foot.

Johan Debière

English translation - original article published in French by PME KMO

Since the 2008 financial crisis, and despite ups and downs in crude oil barrel prices, gasoline and diesel prices seem to have permanently stuck to painfully high levels for individuals, but also for businesses. A price level all the more painful for fleet managers since the deductibility of fuel costs has been, as everyone knows, rejected at 75% since January 1, 2010.
What to do facing this price surge? Suffer in silence? Reduce mileage traveled? These attitudes would certainly not be productive. On the other hand, market players have managed to bounce back by turning this latest constraint into a great opportunity. This is precisely the case with the company Speed-up. Located in Spa in the province of Liège, this specialized SME markets P-Tronic, a tuning box allowing more refined electronic control of injection systems on car engines. "By placing this performance chip in cars equipped with turbodiesel engines or on new turbo gasoline engines, we can reduce fuel consumption by 10 to 15% depending on the vehicle in which it is installed," explains Philippe Heeren, manager of Speed-up.

A 100% Belgian-assembled box-unit

In the vast majority of cases, installation is done without requiring specific mechanical knowledge. "You'll spend as much time lifting the hood as clipping the chip onto your engine," emphasizes Philippe Heeren. In a way, you can thus apply a vast fuel-saving operation without it being really necessary to get drivers to change their behavior. "The manufacturing process relies on, on the one hand, acquiring top-quality components (digital and numeric electronic boards, connectors, wiring, box casings...) from various Belgian suppliers and, on the other hand, their assembly and custom programming for each type of injection in Speed-up's production unit." "Everything is made in Belgium with quality components," continues the Speed-up manager. Is a negative effect observed on the engine? "It's the opposite. The equipment optimizes engine operation by letting its power express itself without any restriction. It's therefore less necessary to accelerate to reach the desired speed," Philippe Heeren also emphasizes.

Eco-driving is learned

That said, installing this type of tuning box does not exempt the company from organizing eco-driving courses. Courses that can be organized by contacting organizations like Bureau Veritas Formation. There you'll find a range of awareness training and acquisition of reflexes and techniques essential to implementing eco-behavior in the company and on the road. With eco-driving training sessions on simulator, theoretical eco-driving training sessions or awareness actions with eco-driving simulator. An offer that can also be found at other major mobility players like the Royal Automobile Club of Belgium. Or at more discreet but equally effective players like Eco-Mobile. Located in Gistoux, in the province of Walloon Brabant, this member of the Information and Documentation network in environmental education (Idée network) offers to reduce drivers' accident rate, increase their well-being with a starting investment of less than 100 euros per person. The promised key, according to the non-profit: the possibility of recovering up to 5,000 euros and four tons of CO2 per vehicle. "Even if many drivers know the current rules for obtaining minimum consumption, they unfortunately too often associate them with driving (...) unsuited to the practical and/or economic necessities related to their function," emphasizes the non-profit. When invited to ease off to save fuel, company employees are thus often heard claiming they don't have time or must remain profitable. "Others may even conscientiously apply totally obsolete techniques that even go against the expected results..." continue Eco-Mobile's managers. And in this register, fleet managers are not always better off. Hence the interest in being able to provide them with independent, quality training that will allow addressing different types of driving, or even have the non-profit intervene further downstream, at the vehicle selection level. Note also that the standard training provided by Eco-Mobile lasts 4h30 and takes place either at the company's headquarters or outdoors for an additional fee, with groups of six people.

The crucial tire question

Besides fuel type and optimal engine operation, another element can reduce fuel consumption on company vehicles: tires. In this register, many manufacturers have developed their solution with varying degrees of success. We know Michelin's Energy Saver tire which, as the Bibendum firm recently recalled at the Paris Motor Show, achieves high grip in all circumstances and guarantees long life while offering the most kilometers traveled per liter consumed. The French tire is not the only one to display such broad performance with a tire offering balanced behavior with such energy-saving capacity. In this register, we must also count on brands like Michelin Energy Saver or Continental whose EcoContact model is also highly appreciated by fleet managers. All references that rank in the best positions in test benches as serious as those organized for years by the Swiss Touring Club (TCS). There we discover without great surprise that it's brand tires with specialized profiles (summer tires or winter tires) that win the best votes, both in terms of braking distance, longevity and energy savings. Do you plan to incorporate some electric cars in your fleet? Here again, suppliers are working hard to offer you suitable tires that will allow traveling more kilometers per Kw consumed, without questioning the other qualities of the tires.

... and choosing the right fuel

In Belgium, one can get fuel from a relatively high number of suppliers. Some of them offer better quality fuels that would preserve engines and allow better engine performance. This is the case with Shell which offers Shell V-Power and Shell V-Power Diesel and Total whose Excellium range provides drivers with Euro 98 and Euro 95 gasoline fuels, as well as diesel. In both cases, it's through additives that fuel suppliers manage to better protect metal parts from water-related corrosion, avoid accelerated fuel aging and thus contribute to increased engine efficiency. With, once again, fuel savings of a few percent as a result.