Is Hydrogen “Incredibly Dumb”?
By Andrew Boada, Editor At Large
Most OEMs are funding research and development of fuel cell vehicles (FCVs), but their collective efforts have been dwarfed by their on-going investment in battery electric vehicles (BEVs).
Is that because hydrogen-fueled vehicles, as Elon Musk once put it, are “an incredibly dumb idea”? If not, then what’s behind the apparent relative lack of interest in FCVs in the auto industry?
Disclaimer: Not a Substitute for Safe and Attentive Driving
By Art Liggio, President and CEO, Driving Dynamics
Have you ever read the technology disclaimers that come with the vehicles put into your fleet selectors?
Are drivers being advised to review this important, maybe lifesaving information? Or are they getting the keys to their fleet vehicles along with an assumption that the vehicles’ technology will keep them safe?
Imagine this scenario: One of your drivers, in a vehicle equipped with an Automated Emergency Braking (AEB) system, is following an SUV on a multi-lane highway and traveling at a reasonable speed of 35 miles per hour. Suddenly, the SUV in front moves into an adjacent lane and ahead is a stopped vehicle. What was the outcome?
Study Says Electric Scooters Send More People to the Hospital than Bicycles and Walking
Over a one-year period in two Los Angeles emergency departments, more people were injured while riding standing electric scooters than by riding bicycles or traveling on foot, according to the results of a groundbreaking study.
Of the 249 patients who received treatment for scooter-related injuries, nearly 28 percent suffered contusions, sprains and lacerations. About 30 percent had fractures, and just over 40 percent were treated for head injuries, the study found.
Read the article at The Washington Post.
Overcoming the Four Obstacles to Electric Vehicle Adoption
Electric vehicles continue to grow in popularity, though not as quickly as electricity providers would like.
Cost, range anxiety, driver understanding and dealer understanding need to be addressed in order to overcome the barriers.
"Some people believe—to some extent because of how popular Teslas are—that only wealthy people can afford electric vehicles," said Caroline Quazzo, a manager for EZ-EV, an Exelon subsidiary that offers software and services to utilities to help them promote EV adoption.
"And that's very much not true. There's obviously a ton of different vehicles out there and with rebates and with lifetime cost of ownership, there are actually a lot of reasons why overall costs—reduced maintenance, not having to buy gas ever—can make electric vehicles significantly cheaper than the comparable internal-combustion engine vehicle."
Read the article at Forbes.
Motiv Power Systems to Offer BMW Batteries on Electric Chassis for Commercial Vehicles
For 2019 Model Year, BMW to Supply Motiv with its Passenger Car Lithium-Ion Batteries
Foster City, Calif. – January 23, 2019 – Motiv Power Systems (Motiv), the leading provider of all-electric fleet chassis for trucks and buses, announced today a supply agreement with Munich based BMW to integrate BMW’s lithium-ion battery packs into its EPIC chassis.
Representing a strong vote of confidence by BMW AG, a leader in passenger car electrification, Motiv Power Systems now offers BMW’s latest (third) evolution of its lithium-ion battery packs on its all-electric EPIC chassis.
