Auto industry observers are carefully watching how serious consumers are about purchasing electric vehicles and debate how well this is going. They're all in agreement about the battery factor - electric car batteries need to become more affordable and highly functional to reduce sticker prices and range anxiety.
During his quarterly conference call coinciding with the latest update on the Manheim Used Vehicle Value Index, Manheim's Tom Webb said that despite a March increase, total new-unit sales into rental declined by 6 percent. This is slightly less than 25,000 units during the first quarter of this year. At the same time, Webb indicated the number of vehicles operating in rental fleets grew, due to a rise in demand. As a result, the number of rental units available at auction declined significantly in the first quarter.
Ever since launching his clean and green taxi mandates in 2007, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg has faced an uphill court battle implementing rules. Bloomberg is working with two New York-based federal legislators to get a national "Green Taxis Act" in place, allowing cities to mandate the use of more fuel-efficient cars and vans by private fleets.
Toyota and Microsoft are working together to deploy a next-generation telematics software platform that Toyota expects to debut next year on electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles next year. It?s different than Microsoft?s alliance with Ford for its Sync infotainment technology in that the Toyota deal affects behind-scenes IT infrastructure Toyota uses to operate telematics apps.