Could In-Vehicle Payments Be the Next Payments Frontier?
As cars become ever-more sophisticated, consumers will be able to pay using onboard interfaces, saving the time and hassle of having to hold their credit card out of the window or pulling over and getting out their phone. This new frontier is known as ‘in-vehicle payments’.
If the car is running low on fuel, it can order the right amount of fuel at the nearest petrol station and then the driver simply has to confirm the action on the car screen.
Payment cards’ data protection and fraud prevention technologies are far more advanced than car anti-theft systems, so current encryption protocols along with other methods used by payment systems provide a sufficient level of protection for in-vehicle payment data.
Electrify America Raises its Charging Prices by Up to 25 Percent
Electrify America (EA), which is currently one of the largest DC fast-charger networks in the United States, announced it will raise its prices starting on March 6, both for subscribers and occasional users.
Currently, one kilowatt-hour for non-subscribers costs $0.43, but from March it will be $0.48/kWh. For EA Pass+ members paying the $4 monthly fee for cheaper rates, the price hike is bigger percentage-wise, going from $0.31 to $0.36 per kWh, or 16% more than before.
For the states that bill by the number of minutes you’re plugged in, Electrify America will raise the price from $0.16 to $0.19 per minute for charging speeds between 1-90 kW, while higher charging speeds will be billed with $0.37 per minute.
US Dept. Of Defense Inches Closer to Tactical Electric Vehicles
The US Department of Defense has been slowly introducing electric vehicles into its non-tactical fleet, and it is getting ready to jump into tactical vehicles, too.
Canoo delivered a Light Tactical Vehicle (LTV) to the U.S. Army in November. NASA also raised the Canoo profile last spring, when it selected the company to provide launchpad transportation for astronauts in its Artemis moon mission.
Billions of Miles is Just the Start for Mentor by eDriving
By Ed Dubens, CEO/Founder, eDriving
A smartphone-based driver safety and risk management program – are you serious?
The last 4+ years that our digital driver risk management program, Mentor by eDrivingsm, has been live with our customers globally, have been some of the most exciting and terrifying of my entire career.
According to the most recent analysis of Mentor in the Spring of 2022, we can reduce unsafe behaviors by risky drivers by up to 89% over 18 months!
Not bad for a program designed around turning smartphones from the culprit to the cure for risky behaviors.
10 Least Satisfying Cars, According to Consumer Reports
Wouldn’t it be great if you could ask thousands of owners what they think of the new car you’re planning to buy?
Consumer Reports analyzed data from the latest member survey to measure the current state of vehicle owner satisfaction. The owner satisfaction score — based on whether owners say they would definitely buy the same car again if given the choice — measures whether a car has lived up to expectations.
Combined with CR’s ratings on testing and reliability, owner satisfaction ratings give car buyers valuable guidance when they’re shopping for a vehicle.
