EU Claims VW, BMW and Daimler Colluded to Limit Emissions Tech
European Union investigators have determined that Volkswagen, BMW and Daimler AG colluded to limit the use of exhaust-improving technologies for gasoline- and diesel-powered vehicles.
The result limited the access of Europeans to less polluting cars, but not the price.
The investigation’s focus was on selective catalytic reduction systems to reduce harmful nitrogen oxides emissions of diesel passenger cars through the injection of urea, which is also called AdBlue, in the exhaust gas stream.
Read the article at The Detroit Bureau.
A Call To Action: ‘Owned Media,’ More Than Being Social
By Ed Pierce, Fleet Industry Marketer
While brand marketers for consumer companies exploit the new web-created opportunities to capture buyers’ attention, B2B marketers have had good reason to wait.
The general consensus is that digital marketing comprises corporate website and repetitive corporate messaging placed in banner advertising and in social media posts, tweets, and photos.
As a marketing manager for a provider of B2B products or services, you know that the first question your executives will ask is “Where’s the value?” Are you really going to explain marketing value based on LinkedIn “Connections,” Facebook “likes,” or Twitter “followers,”? Not likely! It’s hard enough explaining the value of traditional advertising measures like cost-per-thousand, impressions, awareness and perceptions.
Driving Fleet Costs Down Via Wise Use of Data
New data analysis and modeling tools allow you to drive fleet costs down. For example, it’s easier than ever to determine which vehicles should be rotated out because they are costing you in maintenance expense and down time.
Geotab: Managing the Three Phases of Fleet Electrification
By Andrew Boada, Editor at Large
Thinking of converting your entire fleet to zero-emission, all-electric Battery Electric Vehicles (BEVs)?
If so, according to the Canadian telematics company Geotab, the process has three distinct phases, each of which is marked by a distinct set of management considerations and optimized by using data fleets can best obtain from a fleet-wide telematics system.
That was the message fleet professionals heard from Steffano Peduzzi, Geotab’s European director of engineering at the Great British Fleet Event in London earlier this year, where fleet electrification was a major topic of discussion.
Someday Soon, We All May Have to Prove That We’re Sober Before Starting a Motor Vehicle
To prevent drunken driving, a newly-designed universal built-in ignition interlock device would make an instantaneous and precise reading of every driver’s blood alcohol level (BAC) when the driver attempts to start the vehicle.
The device would take BAC samples in one of two ways. A breath-based system would gather a whiff of a driver’s ambient breath. A touch-based system would analyze the touch of a driver’s finger, perhaps from a vehicle’s starter button or the steering wheel.
It would effectively take away the keys by preventing the vehicle from starting.
Officials behind the public-private effort to develop the technology — known as the Driver Alcohol Detection System for Safety — say the device will be ready for commercial fleets next year.
Read the article at The Washington Post.
