By John Wysseier, CEO and President, The CEI Group, Inc.

Panic is never a preferred business mode, yet so much has been made of the dire threat of disruption over the last few years that it may seem that’s the emotion the business and trade press have been trying to instill.

That hasn’t been my objective. Instead, what I and most of the keen-eyed observers I’ve been following have been trying to do is to persuade senior executives that they need to appreciate the dramatic ways in which digital technology is changing the face of business, and to deepen their understanding of the ever-expanding array of applications that may be used to undermine or strengthen their competitiveness.

To be sure – and as I’ve cited in recent posts – the pace of change in the business world driven by new technology is accelerating and is being reflected in the speed by which the roster of industry leaders has been changing recently and is forecast to continue.

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By Laura Jozwiak, Senior Vice President of Sales and Client Relations, Wheels, Inc.

Social cues help us understand if we’re being understood, accepted, rebuffed, or if we’re just being plain annoying to the people around us.

Have you noticed when you’re talking to someone across a table and they lean back in their chair with their arms folded at their chest? Perhaps even with their brows furrowed?

I want you to engage in a little social experiment: sit back in your chair, cross your arms, narrow your eyes, and furrow your brows. How does that feel? It probably doesn’t feel very positive, does it? And it may remind you of a time that your actions caused this behavior in others. I have certainly been in that position before!

Social cues can lead to positive or negative reciprocation.

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Becca Rabinowitz, Director of Strategic Business Lines at SpotHero

For decades, personal cars have been mobility’s bread and butter.

But with the rise of attractive alternatives to personal vehicles, car ownership is no longer a necessity for people living in urban areas. And with a new generation fully accustomed to finding services through their smartphones, dozens of shared car providers are looking to fill the new desire for cars-on-demand.

But when you consider how much work goes into maintaining just one car, it makes you wonder how car share fleets are managing the logistics of car ownership—the responsibilities consumers have been quick, and thankful, to relinquish.

Companies like ReachNow, Canvas, and LimePod have felt the weight of these challenges in recent months, making now an important moment to think critically about how fleets can continue to support this growing demand. Before assuming responsibility over thousands of cars at once, fleets will need to master the three core logistical challenges of managing shared cars at scale: storage, payments, and servicing.

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The Washington Post

As surveillance and tracking technology becomes more advanced and ubiquitous, stalking and other forms of intimate partner violence can become more difficult to fight.

A man who pled guilty of stalking used an app that integrated with a woman’s Land Rover. He helped her purchase it when the two were together, which gave him access to the car’s registration information, allowing him to set up the app.

App-based vehicle tracking is an emerging problem, but like other forms of digital abuse, it’s also a modern take on long-standing behavior. “These behaviors existed beforehand, but the availability of some of these technologies absolutely can make it easier for abusers,” Erica Olsen, director of the Safety Net Project at the National Network to End Domestic Violence said. “It can make it real time.”

Read the article at The Washington Post.

electrek

GM announced two weeks ago that it would be supporting Donald Trump’s rollback of EV emissions standards by siding with the administration versus California.

You would think that GM — with its pioneering Bolt EV and “zero emissions future” initiatives — would support lowering emissions. But something has gone terribly wrong at GM over the past few years in EVs.

The latest indication of this is an announcement that the company would be releasing a Menlo crossover EV — which would likely do well in a US market — in China alone. It feels like the “Who killed the Electric Car” saga all over again.

Read the article at electrek.

Forbes

A lack of trust in safety technology, including lane-keep, emergency braking and advanced adaptive cruise control systems, and an emotional ‘attachment’ to car ownership are two key road blocks to a future of vehicle sharing and self-driving cars.

It could be at least 10 years before autonomous vehicles, and the sharing of them, will become an integral part of society.

Lukas Neckermann, Managing Director of Neckermann Strategic Advisors and co-author of the study adds, “Consumers need to be inspired by the benefits of AVs instead of being overwhelmed by the technology. The promise of enhanced journey safety, convenience and dependability is much more compelling than endless discussions on the number of hands-off miles driven in autonomous mode.”

Read the article at Forbes.

Fortune

The higher network speed of 5G is often associated with faster streaming and downloading capabilities, but in the automotive industry, it’s about safety and survival.

Driverless cars connected to 5G would be constantly and instantly connected to traffic signals, and would monitor the roads through “vehicle-to-vehicle” communication, a network 5G-connected cars that lets them share data.

The increased network speed would mean less delay in information transmissions and faster vehicle response times, and could eventually make autonomous vehicles safer on the road than human-driven vehicles.

Read the article at Fortune.

Quartz

Few have driven a Tesla to the point at which the vehicle really starts to show its age. But Tesloop, a shuttle service in Southern California comprised solely of Teslas, was ticking the odometers of its cars well past 300,000 miles with no signs of slowing.

Most commercial vehicle fleets still run on gasoline and diesel, David Hayward, a fleet expert with Deloitte consulting, said. But EVs are top of mind. “Everyone is excited about it and everyone wants it,” he told Quartz. “But there’s trepidation.” The potential savings are huge. Fleet owners’ biggest expenses after depreciation (44%) are fuel (22%) and maintenance and repairs (11%), according to Deloitte. EVs could slash those by more than half.

Unknowns have kept fleet owners on the sidelines. Range and charging infrastructure remain major concerns for fleet owners who must ensure recharging isn’t more difficult than refilling at a gas station for salespeople and corporate clients on far-flung trips (most drivers charge at home or work).

Read the article at Quartz.

Q&A with Ed Dubens, CEO/Founder of eDriving

In advance of eDriving’s release of Mentor TSP (Telematics Service Provider), CEO and Founder Ed Dubens explains how eDriving’s latest solution provides fleet managers/operators with the option of adding Mentor’s risk management suite to their existing telematics solutions to reduce collisions, injuries, license violations, and total cost of fleet ownership.

What safety data is typically collected by telematics devices?
Hard-wired and OBDII telematics solutions can collect a wide range of fleet efficiency and productivity information that is incredibly useful and profitable for Fleet Operators. However, the safety metrics are typically limited to an understanding of the harsh acceleration, braking, cornering and speeding information associated with the “vehicle”. Such data may or may not be able to be linked to a specific driver at any point in time.

Does this kind of data address ALL the fleet operators’ safety and risk management concerns and create opportunities for improvement?

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International Fleet World

Brazil is home to a number of big-name OEM manufacturing plants, including Fiat Chrysler, Volkswagen, and Ford, and Toyota has announced it will soon make a first of its kind hybrid Corolla there, spurred by new tax incentives.

But the economy and auto market, which fared unexpectedly well early this year, are showing signs of weakness, says the CEO of a leading auto internet marketer and fleet IT services provider.

“Consumer confidence was originally high at the start of the year, as president Jair Bolsonaro took office on 1 January. However, more than nine months on and it’s clear some of that new year optimism seems to have evaporated. Many industry analysts have now reconsidered their predictions of a growing economy and are saying it is now unlikely to kickstart in any considerable manner until 2020.

Read the article in International Fleet World.