Until now, electronic toll collection has generally been considered the responsibility of a standalone device in the vehicle. With the EETS (European Electronic Toll Service) certification of the VDO Link plug& play telematics solution, that is changing: The independent official European Notified Body IMQ has rigorously tested and confirmed that a distributed on-board equipment (OBE) architecture can meet European requirements for electronic toll services – the first certification of its kind in Europe. Instead of a separate toll box, the digital tachograph DTCO, the VDO Link, the VDO Fleet backend, and a cloud-based tolling proxy platform collectively perform this function. But what does this mean in practice for fleet operators?
From standalone solution to connected tolling service
Until now, electronic toll collection in many vehicles was tied to a dedicated on-board unit. These units had to be installed, managed, and maintained separately – an additional burden for fleets that already operate numerous systems in their vehicles. The newly certified solution, however, distributes the toll collection function across existing vehicle technology: The tachograph provides the necessary data via its DSRC (Dedicated Short-Range Communication) interface and the driver interface; the VDO Link establishes connectivity and positioning; and the VDO Fleet backend handles the connection to the cloud-based tolling proxy platform. As a result, toll collection becomes part of a connected system comprising vehicle and fleet services, rather than remaining an isolated add-on feature.
IMQ, an EU-accredited testing body for market conformity, verified, among other things, the required GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite System) positioning performance and DSRC interoperability as part of the certification process. Both criteria are essential prerequisites for a toll system to function reliably throughout Europe.
Less hardware, fewer sources of error
For fleet operators, the distributed approach offers several practical advantages. Since no additional toll box needs to be installed, installation costs are reduced, and there are fewer devices that need to be maintained and managed. The solution also configures itself automatically for each vehicle. This reduces the risk of misassignments – an error that can quickly lead to incorrectly calculated toll charges or even fines when configured manually. Overall, leveraging existing vehicle infrastructure can also lower a fleet’s operating costs.
Already tested in real life
The architecture has not only been tested theoretically but has also been validated in conjunction with national toll systems in France, Germany and Poland. These field tests demonstrate that the concept works within existing European toll systems – an important prerequisite before a solution can be rolled out more widely on the market. Building on the digital tachographs already installed and the existing VDO service network, this can now be done.
More than just tolling: The VDO Link as a multi-service device
Toll certification expands the VDO Link’s functionality beyond its previous scope of application. Originally introduced as a plug & play telematics solution that connects tachograph data in real time with cloud-based fleet management services such as VDO Fleet Tachograph Management, the VDO Link now also plays a role in the tolling ecosystem. For fleet operators, this means that a device already in use can be expanded to include certified tolling services in the future without the need for separate hardware.
