Sanjiv Ghate (Mobilisights): "Our data allows us to develop intuitive applications for electric vehicle owners"

AutoRevista: What has been the impact of Mobilisights in its first year of existence?

Sanjiv Ghate: In terms of impact, we have launched five customer centric data packages that enable different use cases in the industry. We are currently focusing more specifically on use cases that help the fleet or operator sector. We are also working closely with use cases that are helping to create better products in the insurance field. We also have a couple of use cases for electric vehicles. In these two or three areas we already have customers using these products in the market deployment phase. So, in the first year of activity we have been able to establish some business potential, create a customer base, increase our team... I am quite satisfied with what we have achieved in one year, in what can be described as a mobility revolution with real-time data, improving the experience of fleets and consumers.

AR.- In which areas is Mobilisights' projection diversified?

S.G.- Rental companies benefit from Mobilisights' seamless fleet management solutions, controlling fuel management and optimising their operations with real-time data, crucial for improving customer satisfaction and operational efficiency. Telematics service providers use Mobilisights' robust data streams to improve fleet management. With access to detailed vehicle data, these providers have transformed the way fleets operate, ensuring that efficiency, safety and sustainability are at the heart of their services.

AR: What does it mean for a group to work with 14 brands with a long history that are grouped together in Stellantis?

S.G.- Without a doubt, it is a large portfolio that we can cover by attending to the diversity of brands, models and car cultures as a single data access provider, harmonising the data so that our clients do not have to worry about the differences between brands and models. We bring a lot of added value to the standardisation of the data we distribute and the data collected with customer authorisation.  We are certainly providing added value. It is complex to deal with 14 iconic brands that often have different architectures, but we take care of the harmonisation of the data.

AR.- In its first year of activity, Mobilisights has focused on Europe and North America. Are there differences in the activity in both regions? Are there business opportunities foreseen in other areas such as Asia, the Middle East or South America?

S.G.- Yes, the differences between Europe and North America are easily managed. Of course, North America is very different with brands like Ram or Dodge, but there are also brands like Chrysler or Jeep, which are very popular in Europe, where the large volume of Stellantis is focused on brands like Peugeot, Citroën... There are basic architectural differences in some of these bands, but again we try to homogenise them so that customers of all brands can have fleets consuming the data in one configuration.

In terms of geographic expansion, we are actively moving into the Middle East Asia Pacific, India, Latin America, with certain core products already there. We are working to consolidate our platform, the inflection point of which is related to the volume of connected vehicles, so as there are more and more connected vehicles, there will be telematics requirements or other needs in applications that end customers are going to use. So we are looking at when there is enough activity in each region to position Mobilisights in each region.

AR.- How is Mobilisights' service offering integrated from the vehicle production plant?

S.G.- The car manufacturers (OEMs) are responsible for how we design a car in the cloud and for updating the data to serve the customer. This has a direct impact on the way we operate, considering that Mobilisights is a 100% subsidiary of Stellantis. However, as a standalone company we capture new use cases emerging in the market, which we pass on in case they can lead to other customer needs that we can respond to. In that sense, we are exploring the area of data licensing to create a better experience in the acquisition process when a customer buys a vehicle. 

AR.- Does Mobilisights focus primarily on electric vehicles or does it also cover internal combustion vehicles? 

S.G.- Electric vehicles have opened up a very different spectrum of advanced use cases, because the battery is a very important component. Battery health is an important data set. Especially in the case of electric vehicles, the use of data allows operators to better plan a route or find out which is the right charging station to charge the vehicle. Many different use cases are emerging due to the emergence of electric vehicles, but Mobilisights is not limited to electric vehicles. For example, when we talk about fleet operators, or when we talk about insurance, the use cases work for both electric and internal combustion models. Another emerging use case is roadside assistance, again, roadside assistance, which works slightly differently for electric vehicles versus thermal combustion vehicles. In all cases, we work for different models regardless of their propulsion system.

Mobilisights data also enables companies to develop intuitive applications for EV owners, simplifying the management of EV logistics, from charging to cost tracking, improving the user experience. Mobilisights is actively working on providing anonymised data, which is crucial for improving transport infrastructures. The goal of this effort is to create safer roads and more adaptive traffic systems that ultimately benefit all road users.

AR.- Could there be a new field of activity for Mobilisights in autonomous driving in the long term?
 

S.G.- Autonomous driving requires the management of a large amount of data from the driving systems of such vehicles, which are based on sensors, cameras or data input and capture devices.  Stellantis uses a large number of such sensors, many of which can be aggregated anonymously and can be used by other providers of similar applications or similar services. So the general answer is yes, as autonomous driving relies heavily on sensor and camera data available in real time for decision making in the driving process.
 

AR: How does Mobilisights fit into Stellantis' Dare Forward 2030 plan?
 

S.G.: If you look at the documentation that has been generated by the Dare Forward 2030 programme, there is an emphasis on software-defined vehicles or software-defined services as a fundamental part of the future strategy.  Mobility is part of that segment of Stellantis' future strategy and within that segment there are other data-driven services that we are offering to extend the freedom of mobility, just like other sister companies that have their own applications and services. In our case, we are a horizontal data platform that enables or helps us to enable many more third-party applications and services, which will continue to grow because of the forecast of more than 34 million connected by 2030. We are talking about a virtuous circle of electric and connected vehicles that will generate a lot of data, a lot of data that in turn can help create better cars and a better infrastructure for them.

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