|
|  |
Motor Trend When you buy a new car, the price you pay over time isn’t what’s on the sticker. Depreciation, maintenance, and other hidden costs help determine how much you’ll truly spend once you leave the dealership. Now, after analyzing total ownership costs for nearly every vehicle on the market, IntelliChoice is announcing the winners of its 2021 Best Overall Value of the Year (BOVY) awards. This year, Intellichoice examined the five-year ownership costs of nearly 2,400 vehicles, accounting not only for depreciation and maintenance but also for insurance, financing, fees, fuel, and repair costs. And the winners are… |
The Drive If you’re on the road in your vehicle and there is a tornado warning, solution number one is to avoid driving into a storm altogether. But if there is no option, pull over and evaluate the situation. “If the tornado is far away from you, drive your car to the nearest sound structure–a gas station, convenience store, home, et cetera–that is out of the system’s path and seek shelter there until the warning has expired,” said meteorologist Shane Hinton. It’s tempting to pull under an overpass or bridge for shelter, but those structures act as a wind tunnel, potentially funneling the tornado right into you and exposing you and your vehicle to even more peril. You may need to head for a ditch. Read the article at The Drive. |
Car and Driver An EV charging network is popping up across the country, driven by efforts from private companies and various government initiatives. Where will future chargers be built? The study’s resulting charging maps imagine a network of chargers splayed at roughly even intervals, with clusters around the state’s population centers, where dozens or even hundreds of chargers will be necessary to support the higher number of EV owners and the lower likelihood that those owners will be able to charge their EVs at home. “The infrastructure needs to be there, and users need to be educated about these vehicles” before they’ll feel comfortable purchasing one,” Mehrnaz Ghamami, an assistant professor in civil and environmental engineering at Michigan State University says. Read the article at Car and Driver. |
NHTSA The U.S. Department of Transportation launched a new series of safety videos featuring Jason Fenske from Engineering Explained, demonstrating for the public the potential lifesaving benefits of several advanced driver assistance systems available in many new vehicles. “Understanding what advanced driver assistance technologies can and cannot do for the driver is critical to everyone’s safety,” said Dr. Steven Cliff, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s Acting Administrator. This new campaign builds on NHTSA’s successful 5-Star Safety Ratings program by continuing to educate consumers about safety features and new safety technologies. NHTSA is pursuing a comprehensive safe system approach, which recognizes that everyone – including those who design, build, operate, and use the road system – shares in the responsibility for road safety. Read the article at NHTSA. |
|
|
Here Comes the F-150 Lightning |
|
 By Mike Sheldrick, Senior Editor Ford pulled off what will be remembered as one of 2020’s biggest corporate PR coups with its “reveal” last week of the 2022 F-150 Lightning, available for actual sale and delivery next spring. It was widely applauded in the business and automotive press, and Ford quickly racked up nearly 50,000 $100 deposits. Presumably, these would be refundable, and in any case, they don’t count for much on a vehicle whose base price will be just under $40,000 (or even $30,000 with state and federal rebates). Still, because the F-150 has been the nation’s pickup leader for over 40 years, these deposits shouldn’t be dismissed as insignificant. What may be most impressive is that this base version, the F-150 Lightning Pro, is aimed squarely at business fleets. There is the price of course, which is only slightly more than a base ICE F-150, and as befits a work truck, the seats are vinyl but just as important, it looks like a pick-up truck. READ MORE |
|
|
 By: Art Liggio, President and CEO, Driving Dynamics
Several years ago, I purchased my first motorcycle. Since then, I complete one or two advanced safety courses almost every year to ensure that my skills remain current and that I take all precautions to safely operate a two-wheeled vehicle. Most importantly, I continually practice these skills to keep myself and others safe when taking the bike out for an enjoyable weekend ride. Why am I telling you this? My safety and that of other riders is not solely dependent on us – we also rely on those with which we share the road. READ MORE |
|
 By Laura Jozwiak, Senior Vice President of Sales and Client Relations, Wheels, Inc. Picture this: It’s your fifth Zoom call of the day. As you listen to a colleague review agenda topics during a client meeting, a notification pops up for an email from another key client. You see the subject line flash quickly — and there seems to be a problem. You click over to your inbox to read what is going on and get absorbed in the new issue at hand — typing away and trying to resolve it. Mid-paragraph, your ears focus back to the Zoom call as you hear, “Do you agree, Laura?” Agree to what? You wonder with building anxiety. READ MORE |
|
|
|
