By Maria Neve, Manager, Mercury Associates

Everyone is saying it, and it’s true: we are living in unprecedented times. COVID-19 has upended how we do business and has shown that the existing playbooks are insufficient. The virus has also affirmed some long-held basics of fleet management.

First and foremost, a lifecycle management policy is a must. Every fleet—whether it be commercial or government—should have a plan in place to replace vehicles in a measured and timely fashion.

State and municipal governments find themselves in the unenviable position of being essential to the health and welfare of the population, and also at the mercy of incredible budgetary pressure that is only going to worsen over the short term. All government entities will be looking for ways to cover the shortfall caused by reduced tax revenue. Then there is the responsibility to be good stewards of taxpayer dollars. One can argue that a well-thought-out and data-driven fleet replacement policy does exactly that. Let’s take a look how:

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By Trent Dressen, Director of Sales, SuperVision

Finding great talent, especially in a driver shortage, is a hassle. It takes time and energy to post the job, interview, and hire the right person. Finding ways to retain drivers will minimize that hassle in the future.

1. Convey Your Culture

From the very first communication with a prospective employee, you are conveying your company culture. Think about what your culture says to the drivers you are trying to hire or retain.

Do drivers feel welcomed and valued? Are they included in team celebrations? Or are they cut off from the rest of the company by a “driver window”?

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To simplify and better manage your telematics, focus on these 4 key areas of data points

By Ted Lee, Head of Business Development and Product Innovation, Magellan GPS

It’s an iconic early scene from a famous Stephen Spielberg movie. When Indiana Jones steals a golden idol from a temple, he triggers a trap that starts a landslide inside a cave. To survive, the world’s most famous adventurer must first outrun an enormous boulder bearing down on him.

To fleet managers, it can seem as if Big Data is their big boulder. Yes, there’s gold for the taking in that mountain of telematics data your company collects, but there’s also risk.

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MSN

Here’s where some automakers stand on restarting factories that have been closed for at least a month due to fears of spreading the coronavirus.

Mercedes plans to reopen in Alabama on Monday, April 27. Toyota says its restart will begin gradually the week of May 4 in the U.S. and Canada. The company is still waiting for word from the Mexican government on when it can restart there.

Volkswagen announced it will restart its Tennessee plant May 3. Fiat Chrysler has a May 4 restart date, with Ford and General Motors expected around the same time. Though all three are negotiating with the United Auto Workers union. Detroit automakers employ about 150,000 factory workers in the U.S., while international manufacturers have about 85,000.

Read the article at MSN.

Forbes

The coronavirus pandemic hit before self-driving vehicle technology was ready to play a significant role helping to keep goods and people moving safely amid stay-at-home rules.

But Silicon Valley startup Nuro is deploying some of its small robotic delivery vehicles to haul critical supplies for medical staff and patients at two temporary California facilities.

Before the COVID-19 crisis, the Mountain View, California-based company focused on using its low-speed, self-driving vehicles to deliver groceries, food and household merchandise to customers mainly in residential and suburban neighborhoods

Read the article at Forbes.

Medium.com

While electric vehicles produce vastly fewer emissions than internal combustion engines over the course of their lifetimes, the fossil fuels burned to produce electricity still emit harmful greenhouse gases.

Cruise is the only self-driving company to operate an entire fleet of all-electric vehicles and has taken this commitment a step further by running their San Francisco fleet of autonomous vehicles (AVs) on 100% renewable energy.

The Cruise Origin, a recently unveiled self-driven, all-electric, and shared transportation vehicle is complete with the world’s first million mile battery.

Read the article at Medium.com.

MSN

A couple of months into social distancing, physicians, scientists, and other experts are beginning to warn that the six-foot rule is not always the six-foot rule.

This COVID-19 coronavirus spreads way too easily and convertible car corona, as a result, is worth serious consideration before you lower the roof. Convertible car corona, it seems, isn’t something to take lightly.

“That six feet is in still air, and no motion,” says Dr. Matthew Sims, director of infectious-disease research for Beaumont Health, Michigan’s largest hospital system. “I think it’s safer, in general, if you’re going to use your car, consider it an enclosure.”

Read the article at MSN.

J.D. Power Study

J.D. Power’s latest survey shows that U.S. and Canadian consumers are cooling toward both self-driving and battery-electric vehicles for the first time since the survey began. The survey of 8,500 people was conducted in March, before most people were advised to stay at home to protect against the Coronavirus 19 pandemic.

Key findings include that a large majority of respondents are worried that self-driving technology is unreliable; only around 30 percent are thinking about buying an electric vehicle; many who have purchased them are dissatisfied with their performance and wouldn’t buy them again; and widespread concern about the environmental effects of disposing of used batteries. It also found persistent consumer concerns about the lack of charging stations, limited range and high prices for fully-electric vehicles.

“’Frankly, we’re concerned for automakers,’ said Kristin Kolodge, executive director of driver interaction & human machine interface research at J.D. Power. ‘They’re pushing forward with technology that consumers seem to have little interest in. Nor are they making the strides needed to change people’s minds.”

Read the J.D. Power Release

The Drive

The coronavirus pandemic is drying up the capital markets, and that’s extremely bad news in the world of autonomous vehicles.

Development of that technology is costly for both legacy automakers and new startups. Adding semi-autonomous features to your next vehicle, creating fully robotic cars, and making money while doing so, is another thing.

For regulatory reasons, automakers largely have no choice but to keep investing big bucks into electric vehicles and batteries. Self-driving car tech may be a luxury in this economy. Ride-hailing and car share services could also see big changes. Automakers and tech companies banked the future on these.

Read the article at The Drive.

Clean Technica

General Motors has been busy pivoting into the medical supply area over the past several weeks during the coronavirus pandemic, but GM has also been connecting the dots between electric vehicle ownership and rising demand for renewable energy.

GM has kicked its commitment to EV technology into high gear, inking a joint EV agreement with Honda, under which the two companies will develop two new electric vehicles for Honda that deploy GM’s proprietary new Ultium EV batteries.

Read the article at Clean Technica.