“Working with Drive Clean Colorado enables us to solve the right problems and helps us understand the local needs in the market.” – Dan Hilson, BetterFleet Founder
Could you introduce yourself and tell us about BetterFleet?
Dan Hilson here: I’m the founder of BetterFleet, which has been in business since 2016. We started out in Australia and have since expanded to Europe and North America. We have pioneered the BetterFleet Platform, which is a software-as-a-service designed to support fleets transitioning to zero-emissions options. We have assisted with about 200 fleet transitions globally, working with complex fleets ranging from municipal governments to logistics and transit systems.
What drives your customers to pursue a fleet transition, and how does BetterFleet help them optimize their fleet?
Fleets make the decision to transition to clean fleet alternatives for a variety of different reasons. Many people feel they need to transition their fleets due to environmental or regulatory pressures. Regardless of the reason, it’s very important for fleet managers to find the best solution that properly supports their use case and maximizes their total cost of ownership. Our tools allow fleets to analyze their vehicles and operations to best understand how to transition the right vehicles and install the right infrastructure to support them. We help fleets operationalize a cost-effective plan and make sure that the vehicles will work in the duties they are supposed to.
What projects are you working on and what goals are you working towards?
We are working on several charging management projects which include the Metropolitan Water District, LA DOT, Toronto Transit, and Boston Transit. We are aiming to start new projects in Colorado because we’ve seen a lot of commitment to fleet transitions in the state. One of our ongoing goals is to simplify the roles of depot and fleet managers. For example, we plan for what happens if there is a problem with fleet charging. Can we get a technician on the site to fix the charger? Is it the charger or the vehicle that’s the problem? Our system can troubleshoot and address problems quickly while also being able to balance your goals, budget, electrical load, site needs, and more.
How does partnering with Drive Clean Colorado (DCC) help you work towards your goals?
We noticed all the great work your team has done for a long time. We’ve read the newsletter, and I’ve personally met with Bonnie Trowbridge a lot. I really admire the way that Drive Clean Colorado approaches this work. It’s the seriousness, the conviction, and the way you engage. Working with Drive Clean Colorado enables us to solve the right problems and helps us understand the local needs in the market.
Do you have any other updates to share?
BetterFleet recently landed $15M to accelerate the global adoption of AI-enabled EV charging management for fleets. We’ve expanded our AI-enabled platform to provide transit agencies and municipalities with even greater insight into cost-efficient, sustainable fleet planning and daily operations. Despite all the changes at a regulatory level with the new administration and uncertainty in the EV world, we are still seeing lots of positive momentum with transit agencies and municipalities going electric, and this $15M funding accelerates our ability to support more customers in their emissions reduction efforts. Learn more about how BetterFleet secured the funding and how it is advancing charge management for fleets here.
