Electric Vehicle Outlook 2020
The Electric Vehicle Outlook is BloombergNEF’s annual long-term forecast of how electrification, shared mobility and autonomous driving will impact road transport from now out to 2040.
It covers light duty passenger vehicles, commercial vehicles, buses, and two/three-wheeled vehicles. The report draws on our team of specialists around the world and looks at how these trends will impact the automotive, energy, infrastructure, and battery materials markets over the next 20 years.
Automakers are accelerating their EV launch plans, partly to comply with increasingly stringent regulations in Europe and China. COVID-19 will delay some of these, but by 2022 there will be over 500 different EV models available globally. Consumer choice and competitive pricing will be key to attracting new buyers to the market.
Read the article at Bloomberg.
Fatality Investigation: Fatigued Construction Worker Dies in One-Vehicle Collision
The victim was traveling on a major, four-lane interstate en route to an out-of-state destination to pick up supplies when he failed to notice that traffic had stopped - he only obtained 3.5 hours of sleep prior to beginning work.
Employers should be aware of and avoid work schedules that may contribute to worker fatigue. In this case, the company contacted the victim only six hours prior to the departure time in order to complete the task in the time-frame requested by the employer.
Occupational injuries and fatalities are often the result of one or more contributing factors or key events in a larger sequence of events that ultimately result in the injury or fatality. National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) investigators identified four unrecognized hazards as key contributing factors in this incident.
Read the article at EHS Today.
Ford Develops Software To Bake Away Coronavirus In Police Vehicles
Beginning in late-March, engineers at Ford went to work to try to find ways to reduce the exposure of police officers to the virus and came up with a novel software solution that almost entirely bakes it away from the interior of police vehicles.
Working with researchers at the Ohio State University, it was determined that a 15 minute soak at 133 degrees Fahrenheit will kill off over 99% of the virus in the cabin, even on surfaces that might otherwise be missed during a cleaning. The engineers modified the software in the powertrain control and body control computers to enable a new heat soak mode.
While this Ford solution is practical for police vehicles, it’s not likely to be workable for those other applications. Automated vehicles in particular will often be electric vehicles and taxis and ride hailing vehicles can’t wait 15 minutes between every passenger.
Read the article at Forbes.
Ford Isn’t Worried About Low Gas Prices Fueling EV Avoidance
While an extreme upward spike of gas prices might boost electric-car sales, there’s little or no precedent to show that a sudden drop in gas prices - like earlier this year - will cause sales of EVs to fall.
Ford is now expecting that by 2030 up to a third of all vehicles sold globally could be EVs and doesn’t see the success of its EVs like Mach-E as being tethered to the price of gas.
Ford’s global director of electrification, Mark Kaufman said, “a lot of the different CO2 demands from around the world are going to drive us that way. Ford's perspective is in order to meet that demand, you've got to really come up with a compelling reason for the customers to buy - so exciting products, great capability, new functionality that you can't quite get with a conventionally powered vehicle for us are all ways that we can help manage that transition to the end of the decade.”
Read the article at Green Car Reports.
Donlen DriverPoint Telematics Integrates with Ford Data Services for Complimentary Pilot Program
Bannockburn, IL., May 28, 2020 – In conjunction with Ford Motor Company, Donlen, is proud to announce a complimentary pilot program of device-less Donlen DriverPoint® integration with Ford Data ServicesTM . This program is available to Donlen customers with eligible Ford connected vehicles.
“Donlen and Ford are excited to extend this opportunity as it allows fleets to monitor driver behavior by providing opportunities to understand and improve overall fleet safety, while gauging compliance to fleet safety policies and spend,” said Elizabeth Rossiter, Donlen Director of Telematics and Safety Products. “This offering allows fleets to use telematics as a tool to help manage through these difficult times and without the hassle of needing to install physical hardware.”
