Geotab’s past data has been very useful for EV drivers, even if they don’t use Geotab’s services. As a fleet telematic company, the company has collected a lot of data from EVs over the last few years for its clients, but overall it’s helped us to learn a lot more about EVs, battery health, and more.
One particularly useful data set I keep referring to over the last couple of years has come from its report on battery health, collected from 6,000 EVs. From this we learn a lot about what really affects battery health, and ultimately that some of the things that you’d think kill a battery just don’t.
While it provides vehicle analytics, fleet management, and fleet tracking to all sorts of vehicles, Geotab is working to establish itself as a leader in EVs before mass adoption occurs. This makes a lot of sense, because that’s really where the industry is going, but getting there requires a lot of work, and it’s work that Geotab has put in. It now confidently consults businesses looking to transition to EVs because it has spent time learning the ropes.
But, there are many companies out there who take a “clean for me but not for thee” approach to sustainability. Geotab could have easily taken that approach, because helping other people clean up their fleets does mean you’re doing good in the world, so that’s an easy “out” a company can take to justify their own dirty operations.
The good news is that a recent announcement shows that it is not doing that. Geotab Inc. (“Geotab”) released its 2021 GHG Emissions Report earlier this week, as a signatory of the Climate Pledge with carbon emissions reduction targets validated by the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi).
Some key facts from the company’s 2021 GHG emissions report include:
- In 2021, Geotab’s total carbon emissions were 14% lower than they were in 2019.
- In 2021, Geotab was able to achieve a reduction in Scope 1 emissions by 6%, Scope 2 emissions by 21%, and Scope 3 emissions by 14%.
- Scope 1, 2, & 3 greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions will have decreased by 6,129 metric tons of CO2e from 2019 to 2021.
- Geotab is well on its way to reach its grand emissions reduction goals- 50% by 2030 and a net-zero carbon footprint by 2040.
“The impact of intensifying climate change is clear, and we must take collective action to limit global carbon emissions,” said Chuck Van Kempen, Associate Vice President, Corporate Sustainability at Geotab. “At Geotab, sustainability is at the core of our purpose. As a company, this means setting carbon emissions reduction targets and committing to transparent action; as a partner, this means supporting our customers in accelerating their carbon emissions reduction with data-driven sustainable solutions.”
In 2020, Geotab says it saw a significant decrease in emissions because of the pandemic, which lead to the global shift to working from home. With fewer people commuting, traveling for business, and other related activities happening, there were less harmful emissions being put into the atmosphere.
The real test, however, was whether 2021 levels were below 2019 levels. Despite the world returning to business and production increasing in order to meet market demands in 2021, Geotab remained focused on its targets and proactively deploying sustainable programs, thereby successfully reducing carbon emissions. A few examples of such company programs include EV rebates and public transportation incentives for employees as well as work-from-home and business travel guidelines aimed at reduced commuting overall.
Geotab is committed to reducing carbon emissions and has joined several environmental initiatives, such as The Climate Pledge, Science Based Targets initiative, We Mean Business Coalition and Race to Zero. As part of these initiatives, Geotab has committed to annually reporting its GHG emissions.
Geotab says its transportation fleet management system doesn’t just idly contribute to climate change — it actively seeks to decarbonize global fleets, with a full suite of tools backed by an extensive data set on real-world electric vehicle performance. These include the EV Suitability Assessment (EVSA), Green Fleet Dashboard, Temperature Tool for EV Range and the EV Battery Degradation Tool. This way, any company can easily transition to low-carbon practices and take meaningful steps against climate change.
Why This Matters
In the past, I’ve covered some other companies that have joined efforts like the Science-Based Targets Initiative, with my most detailed reporting on this when I covered Lime’s announcement.
The Science-Based Targets Initiative (SBTi) is a partnership between several environmental non-profits and UN entities, launched with the objective of helping businesses contribute meaningfully to ambitious climate goals. Climate targets are considered science-based if they help us keep the world’s temperature from rising more than 2 degrees above pre-industrial levels, or maybe even 1.5 degrees if enough people joined such efforts quickly enough.
In order for a company to participate in the initiative, they must:
- Commit to setting a target by sending the initiative a letter
- Develop a plan using the SBTi’s guidelines
- Submit the plan for analysis by the team
- Communicate the target to the company’s customers and stakeholders
- Disclose data annually to make sure everyone can see if you’re making it toward the goals
What this ends up doing is introducing accountability into the sustainability process, and not just a PR effort or a webpage on the company website making vague commitments. Instead, a real plan is made and annual numbers get released to show that the plan is happening to achieve a real goal.
In many ways, that’s what Geotab has helped its clients do in the EV fleet transition process, but this is its way of doing it itself to show real commitment. All companies don’t need to join an initiative to achieve this goal, but it does give us an idea of what it’s going to take to get there both nationally and globally.
Buzzwords and mission statements can only take you so far. Real changes and baking sustainability into processes early is how we can achieve what we need to achieve. Seeing another company operating in the EV space do this the right way is definitely good news.
Featured image provided by Geotab.
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