APD held a Driver and Vehicle Data Management Day on 14th June 2011 at Millbrook Proving Ground in Bedfordshire.  Using APD’s DVMS solution, which was selected by ACPO ITS to be demonstrated at the HOSDB Exhibition earlier this year, APD prepared two vehicles and devised a set course for 20 Emergency Services personnel to test their eco-driving skills and to demonstrate how modifying driver behaviour can have huge cost saving potential.

The Test

The object of the exercise was to monitor current driver behaviour and fuel economy, suggest how improvements could be made, use in-vehicle technology to give real-time driver feedback and then analyse the improvements achieved through the use of the technology.  Each vehicle was equipped with the APD DVMS solution and a Millbrook instructor with each driver being given their own individual Driver-ID token which was used on each of the sessions to identify the driver of the vehicle.  This information was captured and stored so that individual performance improvements could be monitored and reported upon.  Whilst driving around the pre-determined route, live information was relayed from the vehicle and points for poor driving (excessive acceleration, braking, cornering and engine revs) were displayed on the reports screen.  Progress of the vehicle location around the circuit was also shown in real time on the Co-Ordinator Map Client screen.

In the first driving session, our delegates were asked to drive the vehicles in the manner in which they believed the majority of police vehicles to be driven and their driver behaviour and fuel economy were recorded.  In the second session the delegates were asked to drive the vehicles in accordance with eco-driving practices and use the in-vehicle DVMS feedback (an iPhone displaying driver behaviour using a red, amber, green warning system) to adjust their driving style and keep within the thresholds of acceptable driver behaviour.

The results of both sessions were then compared to illustrate the benefits that the DVMS solution is able to deliver in terms of improved fuel economy, reduced vehicle wear and tear, and enhanced driver safety.  The cost saving benefits of these improvements were then investigated, with particular emphasis on the potential savings that can realised by increasing fuel economy.

The Results

The following charts and graphs detail overall fuel usage and MPG, as well as individual driver comparisons.  It should be noted that not every driver improved on their second run!

Overview of Run 1

·         Total number of points scored in run 1 was 1677 (average of 83.85 per driver)

·         Total fuel used in run 1 was 11.56 litres

·         Cost of run 1 (at 139.9 per litre) was £16.19

·         Average mpg for run 1 was 26.77

Overview of Run 2

·         Total number of points scored in run 2 was 71 (average of 3.55 per driver)

·         Total fuel used in run 2 was 7.05 litres

·         Cost of run 2 (at 139.9 per litre) was £9.88

·         Average mpg for run 2 was 44.26

Comparison of Fuel Used and Cost

·         Run 2 used 4.51 litres (39%) less fuel than run 1

·         Run 2 cost £6.31 (39%) less than run 1

·         Average improvement in fuel economy was 17.49 mpg