Autonomic, a subsidiary of Ford Smart Mobility specializing in vehicle connectivity, plans to develop a range of cloud-based services for Ayro’s light-duty electric vehicles, which Ayro says are ideal for last-mile deliveries.
The two companies recently announced the strategic agreement, which they say establishes the first major partnership between a cloud platform and a maker of compact EVs.
“At Autonomic, we designed our platform to accelerate the progress of connected vehicles, and it’s a privilege to work with Ayro, one of the most visionary EV companies on the market,” said Gavin Sherry, co-founder and CEO of Autonomic. “Already, they’re poised for incredible growth and our Transportation Mobility Cloud (TMC) will accelerate that.”
More than 2 million electric vehicles were sold last year, according to Bloomberg, and the market is expected to grow exponentially in the next five years. This growth is driven by demand for efficient and sustainable transportation solutions, and the need for alternative mobility modes to combat congestion.
But adoption of EVs beyond passenger vehicles for businesses and fleet operators remains dependent not only on their cost-effectiveness, but also their ability to integrate seamlessly with fleet telematics software.
To help expand the capabilities of clean-energy vehicles for businesses and fleet operators, Ayro, which manufactures a fleet of compact, emissions-free vehicles, including the soon-to-be-launched AYRO 311x boasting a range of up to 85 miles, is leveraging Autonomic’s TMC to create new applications and services, which include:
- Two-way data and telematic exchanges for Ayro’s fleet customers and individual users
- Geo-location tools for proximity-based communications for business partners, restaurants and shops
- Services to monitor use rates, deployment efficiency, fleet and vehicle performance, advanced maintenance and service levels for fleet operators
- Real-time feedback for range, maintenance, and available services for drivers
Along with new applications and services, Ayro’s use of TMC scales with the data and computing resources of Amazon Web Services (AWS) to enable application connectivity and provide a platform for future innovation, according to Autonomic.
TMC is a transportation and mobility platform for connected vehicles, connecting diverse elements of urban mobility systems with the goal of orchestrating a safer, more efficient and sustainable transportation network. The company says the platform is designed to provide the building blocks necessary for connected mobility applications, including management of large-scale fleets.
“We’re excited to partner with the Autonomic team to develop custom apps and services that will maximize our fleet owners’ management abilities along with a unique user experience,” said Rod Keller, Ayro’s CEO.
“Autonomic’s experience with cloud-based transportation applications is a tremendous asset for Ayro as we develop the finest user experiences for our customers.”