Celebrating Champions in a Chaotic Year!
I daresay that few of us will look back at 2020 without thinking of the heartbreaking tragedies this year has brought. Yet, we consider how our fleet industry has deftly adapted to a new way of working and it is remarkable!
In the beginning, our utmost goal was to keep our drivers safe, and we heap appreciation on the ingenuity of our fleet managers and suppliers to insure their safety in the midst of chaos. We commend our industry associations who kept us connected to one another and, by the way, amazingly pulled off successful and fun virtual conferences. We celebrate their leadership.
My heart swells when I spot a Ronald McDonald House near a hospital; helping families of sick children is what they do. Our friends Erin Gilchrist and Ryan Wilkins invite fleets with an idled vehicle to donate to this wonderful charity.
This is our final newsletter of the year. Our next issue will arrive in your inbox on January 5, 2021. In the meantime, please check in with FleetManagementWeekly.com for daily updates.
Our FMW family wishes you and your family a peaceful, healthy and happy holiday season. We look forward to seeing you in person in 2021!
Janice Sutton
Editor in Chief
What’s the Right Mix of EVs? eIQ’s Automated Algorithm Can Help (a Lot)
Trying hard to figure out which EVs you need in your fleet? eIQ Mobility’s powerful algorithmic tool automates a lot of the decisionmaking process, and that helps you find just the right mix of EVs.
Cruise Starts Testing Fully Driverless Cars in San Francisco
Cruise's self-driving cars have been testing on San Francisco streets for years, but always with a safety driver up front. On Wednesday, the General Motors-backed company announced it had started sending out its autonomous Chevy Bolt EVs with no one in the vehicle.
Back in October, Cruise received a permit from the California Department of Motor Vehicles to drive up to five of its sensor-loaded vehicles without a backup driver at the wheel. This month it sent out one car at night in San Francisco's rather sleepy Sunset District on the far west side of the city next to the Pacific Ocean.
In a video released Wednesday, Cruise showed off its first fully driverless test on an empty SF street at night. Cruise isn't the first company to receive a permit for fully self-driving cars, but it is the first to put them to the test in San Francisco, which Cruise CEO Dan Ammann called "one of the craziest driving environments."
Read the article at MSN.
NextEra Energy Resources Enters the Mobility Market with Acquisition of eIQ Mobility
NextEra Energy Resources, LLC, just announced the acquisition of eIQ Mobility, the leading software provider of mobility planning solutions based in Oakland, California.
"The conversion away from internal combustion engines could drive over one fifth of U.S. energy demand by 2050, and fleets are following passenger vehicles in this disruptive trend. The fleet market is expected to grow as fleet vehicles become available and our investment in eIQ Mobility gives us best-in-class insights into when and where fleet conversion is likely to be economic for our customers," said Matt Handel, senior vice president of Development for NextEra Energy Resources.
"Our customers are planning for the future transition to electric or hydrogen mobility. Through the acquisition of eIQ Mobility, we will be able to offer our commercial, industrial, municipal and utility customers robust fleet assessments that inform infrastructure planning for renewable energy, load management and resiliency while helping them meet their environmental, social and governance goals."
Nissan Follows GM in Ditching Trump’s Effort to Overturn California’s Pollution Rules
President Donald Trump’s effort to overturn California’s ability to set fuel efficiency rules just lost another automaker. One by one, Trump's auto allies are falling away.
Nissan said it was joining General Motors in abandoning the group of car companies that were previously supporting Trump’s fight with California.
The pro-California group of car companies, which first announced their intentions in July 2019, struck a deal with the state that roughly matches the cleaner car plan put in place by the Obama-era Environmental Protection Agency — a plan that the Trump administration has been working feverishly to undo since the president took office in 2017
Read the article at The Verge.
