Working with Runzheimer the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) today announced the new national, optional business mileage deduction rate of 54.5¢, which goes into effect January 1, 2018.
“Across the US the average costs of owning and operating a vehicle rose just one cent over the last reporting period for this cost analysis. All of the ownership and operating costs have been relatively stable, with fuel costs showing the greatest increase, offset by small decreases in vehicle ownership costs,” said Donna Koppensteiner-Reidy, Senior Vice President of Business Development and Marketing at Runzheimer.
Autonomous and electric cars, connectivity, and ridesharing are changing the way auto industry players think about value chains, data analytics, and manufacturing.
Asutosh Padhi, a senior McKinsey partner says, "Our view is that the automotive industry will see more disruption in the next ten years than it has seen in the last 50 years. This disruption will be driven by four factors that we call the ACES. It stands for autonomous, connectivity, electrification, and ridesharing."
Fleet owners are going to make decisions on car buying based on the total cost of ownership, and this is where electrification and ridesharing start to go hand in hand together.
Read the original article at McKinsey & Co.
Drones and programmed cars of the future could spot potholes and other road damage, transmitting the information directly to Highways England, the government body responsible for roads.
In a report published on Wednesday, Highways England, said “connected vehicles” could improve the efficiency of route maintenance, while simultaneously improving safety.
Jim O’Sullivan, the body’s chief executive said: “We are delivering a record £15bn of government investment to give people safe, efficient and reliable journeys, and provide businesses with the links they need to prosper and grow.
Read the original article at The Guardian.
Vincentric, LLC announced the 2017 U.S. Hybrid Analysis results today with 26 of the 65 hybrids evaluated, or 40%, having a lower total cost of ownership compared to their closest all-gasoline powered counterpart.
Since 2012 the percentage of cost-effective hybrids has steadily decreased, with the trend changing in 2017 as the rate increased 16 percentage points compared to the 2016 Vincentric U.S. Hybrid Analysis.
“Our study showed a significant increase in the percentage of hybrids that can save buyer’s money over five-years when compared to an all-gas counterpart,” said Vincentric President, David Wurster.
Just like smartphone makers, automakers from BMW to Subaru plan to upgrade their vehicles with over-the-air updates.
Connected cars owners can schedule less, time-consuming updates of some features.
IHS auto analyst Stephanie Brinley says that over-the-air updates must also overcome dealer resistance. “That will be an issue,” she says, “because bringing cars into the shop for service is where dealers make a lot of revenue.”
Read the original article at The Detroit News.