TORONTO, Ont. — Geotab has bought the Waterloo, Ont.-based Fleetcarma.

CEO Neil Cawse announced the acquisition during his opening talk at Geotab’s two-day conference Connect 2018.

The Google-based transportation data company will be adding Fleetcarma’s technology and software to its current offerings.

Fleetcarma products are designed for electric vehicles (EV) in order to help them maximize their charging opportunities and offering battery solutions.

Like other products on the market Fleetcarma has offerings to allow EV clients to access data about their battery’s performance, as well as helping them to find charging stations.

Unique features include the ability to target the best time to charge vehicles, combining battery level, with grid use data, and hydro prices to let users charge their EV’s in the most efficient ways, keeping batteries charged for when they’re needed, while reducing energy costs.

Scott Sutarik, Geotab associate VP, commercial vehicle solutions, says although EV’s aren’t a widely used commercial truck now, the solutions will help fleets in the future to determine when there’s grid capacity to charge their fleet, while keeping vehicles on the road.

Fleetcarma CEO Matthew Stevens says the company was looking for a telematics partner to help expand its reach when Geotab made the purchase offer. He felt there was no one better to partner with.
“You cannot transition to EVs without telematics,” he said.