Intangles, a digital twin technology company focused on predictive maintenance, recently started showcasing the outcome of its partnership with the Contra Costa County Transit Authority (CCCTA), a transit agency for the San Francisco Bay Area, where Intangles’ real-time diagnostic solutions have helped improve fleet performance, reduce maintenance costs and ensure compliance with state regulations.
Founded in India, Intangles has expanded its reach into the North American market, leveraging expertise in data analytics and predictive maintenance to transform fleet management, said Anup Patil, CEO of Intangles, in an interview with FreightWaves.
The commercial vehicle sector faces mounting challenges, from complex emissions standards to rising operational costs. Intangles has developed an approach that shifts maintenance strategies from reactive to proactive by collecting vehicle data at high frequencies. The proprietary analytics system combines diagnostic codes with deep physics-based insights, offering fleet operators intelligence to prevent breakdowns and optimize vehicle performance.
“Most fleets were just looking at diagnostic trouble codes and location-based tracking analytics. We went a step beyond that and started looking into the physics of every component of the vehicle and also fed that into our machine learning platform. When you bring all of this information together, essentially using hybrid analytics or a digital twin strategy, you can start to see an anomaly over a period of time with a certain confidence index. Then you can predict a component-level performance degradation and raise an early warning,” Patil explained.
This enables fleet managers to predict component failures, reducing part replacement cycles from the industry standard 18-24 months to less than 12 months, according to Intangles.
Predictive maintenance for EVs
A major focus for Intangles is compliance with California Air Resources Board (CARB) standards, which set strict emission guidelines for fleet operators. The company automates detailed reporting to help fleets remain compliant while reducing vehicle downtime.
Intangles also saw how California’s push toward electrification has accelerated the adoption of electric buses and commercial vehicles, largely driven by federal grants. However, many transit agencies and fleet operators face significant challenges, including maintenance complexities, charging infrastructure limitations and battery degradation, when it comes to making investments in these electric assets.
“The fundamental rationale behind this is these counties get grants for operating electric buses. Even if there is a county with 50 buses, you can safely assume that they’ll have two or three electric buses in that fleet. The problem is, these fleets are struggling with maintenance with components they are not used to, including motors and tires, which wear out faster on electric vehicles,” said Aman Singh, Intangles’ co-founder and analytics head.
Intangles technology provides fleet operators with insights into battery health, charging efficiency and range forecasting. While working with CCCTA, Intangles was able to identify that a majority of electric buses had consistently experienced downtime or dealt with charging equipment failures due to overcharging.
“We met a very large fleet including electric vehicles, and they didn’t even know that those vehicles were only supposed to be charged to 80%. For the past one-and-a-half years, they have been charging all the way to 100. The OEM told them it’s much like a smartphone: You’re not supposed to continuously keep charging it like that; doing so is very detrimental to the health of the battery,” Singh explained.
Intangles’ collaboration with OEMs has expanded its impact on the industry. By providing component-level analytics, the company helps OEMs refine vehicle design, optimize performance and improve longevity of key components. This symbiotic relationship between fleet operators and manufacturers is essential in the transition toward cleaner and more efficient commercial transportation.
Intangles digital twin technology can not only help in proactive maintenance but prove that over-the-road trucking fleets uphold high safety standards as well.
The company said one of its industrial gas customers dealt with an unloaded tanker truck catching on fire. During the incident, Intangles technology continued to transmit data during the fire, which showed the fire was caused by a short circuit in auxiliary wiring – nothing to do with the engine or battery-alternator as originally assumed. The ability to find the anomaly also helped uphold the trucking company’s high safety standards for its vehicles.
Intangles was also able to make recommendations across the rest of the fleet’s assets to keep the anomaly from happening again.
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