In an interview with AutoEVTimes, Naveen Dachuri, Co-founder and CTO of Yulu, discusses the brand’s tech-driven approach to enhancing EV rider safety and operational efficiency. From Non-Operational Zones and real-time battery swaps to ML-powered fleet maintenance and IoT-based monitoring, Yulu’s innovative systems are transforming urban mobility. Their focus on field staff empowerment further ensures high productivity, directly contributing to an optimal user experience.
Read the full interview here:
AutoEVTimes: How does Yulu’s ‘Non Operational Zones’ feature ensure rider safety and operational efficiency?
Naveen: To fully enjoy Yulu’s safe, smart, and sustainable EV rental service, users must stay within Yulu’s designated operational areas. This ensures that they have unhindered access to Yulu’s EVs, battery swaps via Yuma Energy, as well as timely vehicle maintenance services.
Yulu’s app clearly also displays operational and non-operational zones, helping users plan their trips accordingly. If a rider enters a non-operational zone, Yulu sends notifications and makes IVR calls, prompting them to return. As a last resort, the EV may be immobilised to protect the vehicle if these alerts are ignored.
AutoEVTimes: How has the battery swap token booking system improved delivery efficiency and reduced downtime at Yuma stations?
Naveen: Yulu riders swap their EV batteries at Yuma Energy stations with assistance from field staff, known as Commanders. Before the token booking system, Commanders manually decided the service order, leading to longer wait times and occasional conflicts. These delays affected many riders, especially those working as delivery partners, impacting their daily earnings.
The new token booking system gives riders real-time visibility of charged battery availability at nearby Yuma stations, allowing them to plan swaps based on their route and battery level. Thus it has slashed their waiting time. On average, riders now receive batteries within two minutes of their arrival. The Commanders too have a clear sequence for serving the riders.
Additionally, the system improves battery availability through a machine learning (ML) model that predicts demand based on riders’ EV charge levels, distance to stations, and historical swapping trends for each Yuma station in the area.
AutoEVTimes: Can you explain how app-based controls like key-sharing and live tracking enhance the Wynn EV user experience and security?
Naveen: The Yulu Wynn is a smart, app-based EV equipped with innovative features like key-sharing and live tracking. As a keyless vehicle, the Wynn can be accessed entirely through the owner’s app. Using the remote key-sharing feature, an owner can share their Wynn with a registered friend or relative by generating a virtual key via the app.
The Wynn’s live tracking feature also uses GPS to display the vehicle’s location, ensuring the owner can monitor the rider’s journey at all times. These features, paired with Yulu’s end-to-end network security features, mean that the Wynn offers superior access control, convenience, and safety, and fits seamlessly into the digital lifestyle of the modern consumer.
AutoEVTimes: How has Yuzen’s machine-learning-driven task allocation improved field team coordination and real-time progress?
Naveen: As a fleet-based business, Yulu relies on a large field staff to manage its operations, maintain and rebalance its fleet and interact with customers. Yuzen, our in-house field staff app, ensures seamless coordination within the team.
Yulu’s backend technology collects large amounts of data from our fleets, customer usage, and on-ground operations data. Using this data we have developed machine learning (ML) models to improve operational efficiency, fleet upkeep and utilisation.
Some of our key ML-based models help:
1- proactively identify failures, track maintenance schedules, and reduce EV downtime – cutting repair costs and increasing fleet utilisation; as well as
2- predict and fulfil demand to optimise fleet utilisation and reduce rebalancing costs.
These models generate tasks for the field team, which are auto-assigned by priority through Yuzen. This auto-allocation system gives our monitoring team better visibility on the field team, enhancing task completion rates and overall efficiency.
AutoEVTimes: How does Yunite’s IoT platform contribute to better fleet performance, predictive maintenance, and cost savings?
Naveen: Yunite is a smart vehicle platform that lets Yulu collect thousands of data points from each EV on the road. This information includes everything from the health of the vehicle components and battery, to its location and direction, the way it is being ridden, and more. As it scans the vehicle, Yunite detects any current and potential problems that could affect the user or the vehicle, and if needed, sends out an alert to the concerned field team.
Thus, Yunite as a platform has two clear advantages. By generating accurate and real-time data, it helps Yulu’s team to take quick, proactive and preventive action on vehicle faults. Malfunctioning vehicles either get an over-the-air (OTA) software fix, or are removed from the field for repairs, as needed. For users, the main benefit is that they always get a well-functioning EV and enjoy Yulu’s services with the highest possible uptime.
AutoEVTimes: What steps does Yulu take to keep field staff engaged, happy, and productive, and how does this impact overall success?
Naveen: Yulu invests heavily in the growth and wellbeing of our field staff. We regularly conduct training sessions to upgrade their technical and computer skills, so that they are empowered to apply for larger roles within the company. We also conduct workshops on health, nutrition, financial planning, and the various government schemes and entitlements they can benefit from.
Our in-house app called Yuzen helps automate routine and time-sapping tasks. This allows our field employees to focus their energies on tackling more important work, including serving our customers. Thus, Yuzen has significantly boosted productivity and transparency within Yulu.
Additionally, Yulu has a phone and WhatsApp helpline, monitored by senior management. The goal is to ensure that any employee issues raised via these channels are resolved within 24 hours.
All these initiatives have improved staff engagement and productivity, leading to stronger business outcomes, and by extension, a happier experience for our end-users.
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