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

Another new year, another round of resolutions!

I’m a goal-oriented person and have been documenting my short- and long-term terms goals for more than 20 years. When looking back, I’m amazed how much I‘ve been able to accomplish on goals I set for myself all those years ago. Some of them, I thought, were audacious. Nonetheless, I set them as my intentions, would reflect on them, and ensured my actions were following the journey I wanted to create. My favorite part of achieving the goal is the act of crossing it off my list!

Every January 1, my family knows I’ll ask for their goals for the year. Probably with dread. But this year, I found a new way to make it easier to be more flexible instead of absolute on your goals.

Instead of a list of goals that we feel bad about breaking by the time you read this article, create one word that inspires you for the year.

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What it means for BEV TCO

By Mark Boada, Executive Editor

One of the long-standing selling points of electric vehicles – both hybrids (HEVs) and battery-powered-only (BEVs) – is lower fuel costs, electricity being cheaper to buy than gasoline or diesel. Given that electric vehicles’ purchase prices are higher than comparable models powered by internal combustion engines (ICEs), that differential is supposed to make EV total cost of ownership competitive if not superior to the alternative, as long as you hold onto your EV long enough.

Now, this fuel cost advantage isn’t the only one EVs are supposed to deliver. Other operating costs are also lower, as fully electric cars and SUVs don’t have spark plugs, transmissions, radiators, oil and fuel filters, exhaust systems, and other gasoline-specific components that require routine maintenance. In addition, their brakes last longer, since their stopping power is supplemented by the inertia of the electric motor.

But for fleets looking to add BEVs to their inventory, there’s a fly in the ointment.

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IIHS

Sixty-four cars and SUVs qualify for an award from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety under new criteria that prioritize the protection of pedestrians in addition to vehicle occupants.

Among automakers, Mazda has the most Top Safety Pick+ awards with five — for the Mazda 3 sedan, Mazda 3 hatchback, Mazda 6, CX-3 and CX-5, and earns an additional Top Safety Pick for the CX-9.

To qualify for a 2020 Top Safety Pick or Top Safety Pick+ award, vehicles must have good ratings in each of the Institute’s six crashworthiness evaluations. They must also have good or acceptable headlights and available front crash prevention that earns advanced or superior ratings in both vehicle-to-vehicle and vehicle-to-pedestrian evaluations.

Read the article at IIHS.

CNN

Known automakers like Ford, GMC and Tesla along with start-ups Rivian, Bolinger Motors, Nikola and Lordstown Motors are prepared to enter the battleground of electric pickups sales.

Many of these trucks take advantage of other benefits of electric motors besides just the heavyweight pulling power they enable. Electric motors are also far more compact than gasoline engines and they don’t require a transmission with multiple gears freeing up lots of room for lockable storage space.

Electric trucks can provide power for electric tools on job sites and, since they don’t burn gasoline or diesel and have fewer moving parts to maintain, they’ll be cheaper to operate. Fleet buyers, who look most closely at the cost of operation, will probably be among the first buyers.

Read the article at CNN.

MSN

The Porsche Taycan is something people are craving for in five states: Nevada, Utah, Maryland, New Jersey, and Connecticut.

Tesla’s biggest news for 2020, the Model Y, has the most people waiting for it in California, Washington, and Hawaii. In other words, in two states less than the Taycan, despite the vast price difference.

Ford has the Mustang Mach-E creating the most expectation in Rhode Island and Idaho, while Rivian has the most people in line for its R1T electric pickup truck in Delaware and Vermont.

Read the article at MSN.

Detroit Free Press

A pair of new technologies, augmented reality (AR) and road noise cancellation promise to make driving easier and more pleasant, particularly on long trips.

Augmented reality (AR) lays computer graphics over video of the real world. The goal is to make it easier to find the right turn, know the addresses of buildings you drive past, drop a big red map pin on top of your destination and more.

Road noise cancellation promises to make cabins quieter and more pleasant in the same way noise-cancelling headphones reduce the discomfort of airline travel.

Read the article at Detroit Free Press.

USA Today

While driving conditions vary, there is at least one city in every state where driving stands out as especially stressful, time consuming, and dangerous.

To determine the worst cities to drive in, 24/7 Wall St. created an index assessing the safety, cost, and convenience of driving in America’s metropolitan statistical areas. Data came from several sources including National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s Fatality Analysis Reporting System.

I-59 is the most dangerous road in Tuscaloosa, which is the worst city to drive in Alabama. In Wyoming, Cheyenne is the worst city to drive.

Read the article at USA Today.

Forbes

A big gap is opening up between what politicians say, urged on by high-profile environmentalists like Greta Thunberg, and what is happening in the real world.

The key point surely is that politicians making unrealistic claims for short-term gain will probably be retired when their plans implode, and the rioting starts. Forecasters have to stick around and live with their predictions.

Professor Gautam Kalghatgi, visiting professor for Mechanical Engineering at Imperial College London, and Engineering Science at Oxford University says the politicians and environmentalists declared aims are not possible. “Such a massive increase in BEVs will have unsustainable environmental and economic impacts. Eliminating CO2 would mean the end of aviation, steel and cement and there’d be no gas for central heating. There would be public riots.”

Read the article at Forbes.

J.D. Power Press Release

Owners see dependability of their three-year-old vehicles improving in 2020, according to the J.D. Power 2020 U.S. Vehicle Dependability Study (VDS) with overall vehicle dependability improving 1.5% from 2019.

The study, now in its 31 year, measures the number of problems per 100 vehicles (PP100) experienced during the past 12 months by original owners of their three-year-old vehicles. The Lexus ES is the highest-ranked model with a score of 52 PP100.

The 2020 U.S. Vehicle Dependability Study is based on responses from 36,555 original owners of 2017 model-year vehicles after three years of ownership. The study was fielded from July through November 2019.

Read the press release at J.D. Power.

The New York Times via The World News

Last April, the head of the Environmental Protection Agency, Andrew Wheeler, proclaimed at an auto show here that he would soon roll back President Barack Obama’s stringent fuel efficiency standards.

That, the administration contends, would unleash the muscle of the American auto industry. It would also virtually wipe away the government’s biggest effort to combat climate change.

Nearly a year later, the rollback is nowhere near complete and may not be ready until this summer — if ever. In January, administration staff members appointed by President Trump sent a draft of the scaled-back fuel economy standards to the White House, but six people familiar with the documents described them as “Swiss cheese,” sprinkled with glaring numerical and spelling errors (such as “Massachusettes”), with 111 sections marked “text forthcoming.”

The cost-benefit analysis showed that consumers would lose more money than they would gain. And, because the new auto pollution rule lacks the detailed technical analyses required by law, the regulations would be unlikely to withstand court challenges.

Read the article at The New York Times via The World News.