If A Hurricane Hits, Would It Be Better to Have an EV Or a Gas Car?
For “getting out of Dodge” as the well-worn saying goes, an EV is likely to be a better bet. Even if you’re stuck in traffic on the way to the shelter, you won’t be much better off in a gas car. EVs don’t idle, so if you’re not moving, you’re not using energy, except to run the AC or heater.
EVs would seem to be the winner when evacuating in the path of a hurricane, but gas vehicles do have a slight advantage when returning to the disaster zone to offer assistance.
EVs Add to Electricity Demand, But Not as Much as You Might Think
In some wealthy countries, EVs are what’s keeping electricity demand from falling, while in emerging economies they make a modest addition to steady expected increases in overall electricity demand.
One way to think about this: In 2021, China generated 983 TWh of electricity from wind and solar, 25 times more than the global passenger EV fleet used. China added around 255 TWh of new wind and solar generation to its energy mix in 2021, meaning its newly installed renewable generation produced more than six times what the entire global passenger EV fleet — built up over many years — consumed.
Integrating EVs into the power system will still require careful planning, incentives for off-peak charging to reduce peak demand, and localized grid reinforcement in many places. As a share of global electricity demand, though, the contribution will still be very modest for quite a few years.
How Crash Detection Works: Apple Execs Explain Amid Rollercoaster Activations
Crash Detection is one of the headline new features on the iPhone 14 and the latest Apple Watch models. It’s designed to detect when someone has been in a car crash.
Apple said that high G-forces are the biggest clue to a user being in a car crash, and that would explain why it would also be activated on rollercoaster rides, in which relatively high G-forces can be briefly experienced. The company says that the whole area is a complex one, and there is “no silver bullet” in terms of a single, reliable indicator. Instead, the company combines a diverse range of signals to try to detect the crash.
The Future of Automotive Computing: Cloud and Edge
Four well-known technology trends have emerged as key drivers of innovation in the automotive industry: autonomous driving, connectivity, electrification, and shared mobility—such as car-sharing services. Collectively, these are referred to as the ACES trends, and they will have a significant impact on computing and mobile-network requirements.
With ACES functions, industry players now have three main choices for workload location: onboard the vehicle, cloud, and edge
Multiple factors may need to be considered for balancing workloads across onboard, edge, and cloud computing, but four may be particularly important. The first is safety, since workloads essential for passenger safety require extremely fast reaction times. Other considerations include latency, computing complexity, and requirements for data transfer, which depend on the type, volume, and heterogeneity of data.
Fleetio Adds VMRS Maintenance Categorization Codes to Create Consistency and Cost Efficiency for Fleet Managers
Fleetio has added five VMRS (Vehicle Maintenance Reporting Standards) Code Keys to its maintenance data categorization capabilities.
This update will enable fleet managers to see the full picture of their maintenance spend, uncover costly trends and optimize vehicle productivity.
VMRS is a robust, industry-standard system for categorizing maintenance activities for fleet vehicles and equipment. With Fleetio, fleet managers can choose to adopt as much or as little of the system they prefer.
This gives users the ability to tailor their experience specifically to their reporting and technician workflow needs. The company has plans to add additional code keys over time, which will unlock even greater insight for users.
