Ford vs. GM: Same Industry, Two Increasingly Different Companies

The investment cases for America’s largest automakers are increasingly diverging as the companies — separated by just $1 billion in market value — have taken different tacks around electric and autonomous vehicles.

GM has been diversifying as much as possible around its emerging battery and self-driving vehicle businesses alongside a plan to exclusively offer electric vehicles by 2035. Ford is moving into EVs, too, but keeping up investments in its traditional businesses at the same time.

Last month Ford announced it would disband its Argo AI autonomous vehicle unit saying it didn’t have faith in the business or its potential for monetization in the foreseeable future. Meanwhile, GM's Cruise said it was expanding its robotaxi service to cover most of San Francisco.

via CNBC

Your EV’s Future Trade-In Value May Depend on This One Battery Metric

If an electric vehicle is as good as its battery, then good batteries deserve higher resale values, and that is proving to be true. A leading US wholesaler found that EVs with Range Scores from Recurrent are “seeing $4,000 to $7,000 increases” in sale price due to battery transparency.

Each vehicle battery is checked several times per day through onboard telematics with the permission of the driver. It’s designed to be all over-the-air without clunky devices that infringe on leg room or privacy. Streaming battery insights over the weeks and months allows Recurrent to draw conclusions about an individual vehicle’s current range, how that range will fluctuate in different conditions, and how it compares to hundreds or thousands of similar vehicles.

For owners who are not ready to sell anytime soon, they can start tracking their battery’s performance with the free EV Owner Insights, so when ready, they will have a valuable third-party verification of the battery’s history and condition.

via Electrek

Advice for Newbies from the Fleet Manager of the Year

Some great advice for new fleet managers on what they should do - both internally and externally - from the Fleet Manager of the Year.

Understanding the Real-Life Failure Points that Minimize the Benefits of Lane Keeping Technology

By Art Liggio, Chairman, Driving Dynamics

As fleet operators modernize their inventory, most vehicles are ordered with the latest Advanced Driver Assistance System (ADAS) features.

While automation is predominantly touted in all of the advertising related to ADAS, critical functions of many these systems still heavily rely on the successful and correct use by the driver.

A common feature now installed in new vehicles is Lane Keeping Assist (LKA), which is designed to detect if a vehicle is wandering out of its lane. LKA will automatically make steering corrections to return the vehicle back to its proper position within the lane.

There is a very useful feature, however, in everyday driving situations that fundamentally relies on the driver to use a safety system that’s been installed in vehicles for more than 80 years...