Smart vehicle tracker starts trials

The V-Trak is a compact device being developed using inter-networking technology, known as the internet of things (ioT), by Stonelin Communications.

It is being trialled by York-based Autohorn Fleet Services, which operates a major car rental franchise serving the York area and also a nationwide car leasing operation.

Sonelin Communications has already won the backing of telecom giant Orange for a trio of trackers it is designing, including the V-Trak, and is now looking for £1m from investors to see the devices through to the market.

The fast emerging ioT is forecast to be worth up to $7 trillion by 2020 and the V-Trak uses the technology to pinpoint a vehicle’s location and record driver vehicle performance and logistics.

It has not been designed as an anti-theft tool, but aims to help vehicle based companies manage their resources more effectively to improve their overall performance and customer service.

Four of the trackers will be trialled throughout Autohorn’s 1,500-strong vehicle fleet and the device’s major advantage is that it can be operated by plugging it into a cigarette lighter or USB socket rather than having a vehicle off the road while it is installed.

Autohorn’s sales and operations director, Scott Jenkins, said: “The four we have on trial will be moving around with our drivers as they go out to deliver or collect different rental and lease vehicles.

“We have 300 cars on our rental fleet, which is a franchise of Europcar, serving York and the surrounding area, and our company Flexed.co.uk leases cars right across the UK, from Fiat 500s to Land Rovers and BMWs. This means the V-Trak will get some really exhaustive frontline testing.”