What to Do When Your Hybrid or Electric Car Leaves You Stranded
Jumpstarting a combustion engine is old hat, but what if you have a dead battery in your Toyota Prius or Tesla Model 3?
If an electrified car’s drivetrain batteries ever become fully discharged, you will need a dealership to hook them up to a specialized charging station—not to mention diagnose whatever caused your car to malfunction to that point.
Electrified cars also have 12-volt batteries to run accessories like the radio and the interior lights, just like any other car on the road and can be jump started. The worst-case scenario for any hybrid is still the combination of no fuel and a dead drive battery. If you can’t do anything on the side of the road, you may need to have the car towed.
Read the article at Popular Mechanics.
Safer Voice-Controlled Systems Could Cut Driver Distraction
Advances in voice-activated systems for in-car controls could significantly improve safety for drivers and other road users, according to research by the UK’s Transport Research Laboratory (TRL).
A key issues for fleets, driver distraction is estimated to be a factor in up to 30% of vehicle collisions across Europe and evidence shows that driver distraction levels are much higher when using touchscreen technologies compared to voice-activated systems.
Dr Neale Kinnear, head of behavioural science at TRL, said: “The results of this study clearly show that touch control infotainment systems are highly distracting to drivers, far more so than voice-activated systems. However, even current voice control systems increase drivers’ reaction times and remains a concern for road safety.
Read the article at Fleet World.
Hertz Canceled Most New-Car Orders As Pandemic Shuts Down Travel
As Hertz Global Holdings Inc. works to stay out of bankruptcy, the company has canceled 90% of its new-car purchases for the 2020 model year, a move likely to further depress fleet sales by major automakers.
Chief Executive Officer Kathy Marinello revealed the cost-cutting move in a short 20-minute conference call Tuesday, one day after the company reported a larger-than-expected first-quarter net loss and said it may have difficulty continuing as a going concern. That signaled the company’s management doesn’t expect a quick rebound in demand for rental cars over the next 12 months.
“The coronavirus created a major disruption as global travel market and the used-car market effectively shut down,” Marinello said. “We have to be pragmatic about the timing of an economic rebound including a second wave of the virus in the fall. So we are focused on safeguarding liquidity.”
Read the article at The Detroit Bureau.
Fleet Logistics Offers Free Fleet Audits to Support Large Organizations with Pandemic Economics
Fleet Logistics Group, Europe's largest independent fleet management company, is making a free, high-level fleet audit offer to large fleets to support them through the current pandemic and with their financial recovery.
The fleet audit is available through Fleet Logistics’ website for a limited period, and is aimed at optimizing the fleet operations of large international fleets during this time of crisis. The QuickScan offer is available to all fleet operators with a minimum fleet size of 2,000 cars in Europe, and offers a scan of the existing fleet setup, looking at controlling fleet spend and identifying savings potential.
On a first come, first served basis, Fleet Logistics will analyze provided information covering areas of fleet operation such as existing agreements, policies, and spend data.
Living and Working in a COVID-19 World
By Ed Dubens, CEO/ Founder of eDriving
As countries around the world start discussing lockdown exit plans and businesses adjust to new ways of operating, are you prepared for living and working in a COVID-19 world?
It may feel like longer, but only a few weeks ago organizations around the world started taking drastic measures in response to the global coronavirus pandemic. Now, although day-to-day life for the majority of companies remains significantly affected, for many there is a feeling that we will soon be gradually edging back towards “normality”, but what will the new “normal” look like?
According to The Brookings Institution, up to half of American workers are currently working from home, more than double the number who worked from home (at least occasionally) in 2017-18. And, while some jobs can’t be carried out from home, it is expected that the coronavirus outbreak is “accelerating the trend toward telecommuting, possibly for the long term.”
