Invest Small for Large Gains

Wonder Wagen helps vehicle fleet owners make key business decisions and save operational costs by delivering real-time data.

By Trevor Laurence Jockims

September 2022

Invest Small for Large Gains

Wonder Wagen’s platform helps truck fleet owners keep track of their vehicles and manage them through the mobile app. PRASANNAPiX/iStock/Getty Images

The Internet of Things (IoT) is actually a pretty simple concept. It means taking things and connecting them to the internet. The “thing” could be a pet with a location chip, or an automobile with a sensor to let the owner know when the tire pressure is too low. This requires sensors, processing ability, software and a hardware device to send and receive data through the internet or over other communications networks, like bluetooth, to another device or server.

The first example of such a device was a Coke machine at Carnegie Mellon University in 1982, which was able to relay information about its inventory through a server. More recent examples include smart home features, like air conditioners and lighting, as well as eldercare alert devices and umbrellas that tell you when it may rain. It’s a growing and virtually unlimited array of smart devices with communicative abilities.

New Delhi-based start-up Wonder Wagen combined IoT with Software as a Service (SaaS) platforms, to allow its users to track, monitor and analyze data related to automobiles with minimal investment in hardware and an affordable one-time expense. Simply put, through the Wonder Wagen Smart Vehicle App, the owner of a fleet of commercial vehicles can now get all relevant information about their vehicles such as fuel use, speeding alerts, monitoring and other analytics.

Launched in New Delhi, Wonder Wagen is targeting this sector globally. It was co-founded in 2019 by CEO Chirag Sokhal, and Chief Operating Officers Avinash Anand and Jatin Malwal. The start-up assembled a synergistic team of mechanical engineers, computer science experts, and sales and operation experts. Wonder Wagen was part of the 14th cohort at the Nexus Incubator Start-up Hub at American Center New Delhi.

Invest small for large gains

One of the key advantages of using Wonder Wagen is the reduced operational costs to fleet owners. As Malwal explains, “Wonder Wagen is an IoT-based Software as a Service (SaaS) platform that helps fleet owners manage their fleet efficiently and save operational costs by 30 percent.”

This is achieved through a “fuel monitoring system that tracks fuel usage and detects any potential fuel theft in real-time with 99.5 percent accuracy,” explains Malwal. How does it do this? “We install a special fuel sensor with a communication hub in the vehicle and connect it to your mobile. It works 24/7 and helps fleet owners prevent fuel thefts.”

Every year fuel theft worth an estimated $133 billion occurs worldwide, including thefts from vehicles. The Wonder Wagen fuel monitoring system prevents all kinds of fuel theft from vehicles.

Wonder Wagen’s role in preventing fuel theft becomes even more significant, considering steep fuel costs and devastating impact of theft on the bottom line. Correspondingly, the installation costs of the monitoring system don’t leave a dent on the pocket. Malwal says fleet owners pay upfront costs starting from $80 (approximately Rs. 6,500) per vehicle, and then buy a yearly subscription plan, starting from $22 (approximately Rs 1700) per vehicle.

Boosting interpersonal relationships

Other than saving operational costs, Wonder Wagen also creates a transparent environment resulting in a better relationship between the driver and owner,” says Malwal.

When fleet owners have the Wonder Wagen fuel monitoring system installed, they can trust the driver more as everything is quantified. “Otherwise, owners tend to blame drivers for theft, which can poison the relationship, and can cause anxiety among drivers, Malwal says”. “Now fleet owners can sleep with peace of mind, while our smart system is working for them tirelessly,” he adds.

Besides these clear applications to commercial fleets, Wonder Wagen can benefit owners of personal vehicles, too. Their monitoring system has other applications, like an anti-theft device that allows unique calling alerts. “Owners can remotely disable their engine with a single click from their phone to prevent theft or even to stop it while it is happening,” explains Malwal.

Back to commercial applications, Wonder Wagen’s fleet management platform can provide features like speeding alerts, geofencing, real-time monitoring and tracking, driver behavior analytics (harsh driving alerts, driver efficiency, etc.), route management, temperature monitoring (for heat sensitive goods), and various other vehicle analytics. “Wonder Wagen helps fleet owners optimize their operational costs while they can focus on the growth of their businesses,” says Malwal.

As the variety of commercial vehicles that hit the market widens, Wonder Wagen too intends to expand its operations to electric vehicles and those run on CNG. “We are working towards electric vehicle charging stations optimization, CNG monitoring system, and other energy/fuel management solutions to save overall operational costs and increase efficiency,” says Malwal, looking to the future. “This will help fleet owners to manage their energy-related data on a single platform in an automated way.”

Wonder Wagen’s vision is to provide low investment high-impact products to increase benefits to fleet owners. “We are on a mission to connect people with their vehicles and build a future-ready tech platform to accelerate the growth of sustainable, secure, and efficient transportation,” says Malwal. “We want to democratize smart mobility and increase productivity to drive businesses towards sustainability and profitability.”

Trevor Laurence Jockims teaches writing, literature and contemporary culture at New York University.



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