Hello 2022, Goodbye 2021
An End-of-Year Coffee Break Series Discussion
Join us on Tuesday, December 7, 2021 at 2:00 PM CT for an AFLA discussion as we say Goodbye to 2022 and Hello to 2021.
Register now and wear your most festive holiday ensemble for this end-of-year virtual connection - this event is free to members but space is limited.
7 Ways Biden’s Infrastructure Bill Could Change Your Future Car
In addition to fixing bridges and roads, the 1039-page infrastructure bill addresses safety issues for future vehicles.
Automakers may be asked to make future car hoods and bumpers more protective, to incorporate DUI-preventing technology, and to make active-safety tech and features such as rear-seat alerts and rollaway protection into standard features.
Other markets, including Europe, are getting to drive cars equipped with adaptive driving beam headlights.
Read the article at Car and Driver.
Ford And Purdue Made A Cable That Could Charge An EV in 5 Minutes
One of the biggest challenges in getting truly widespread adoption of EVs is charging time. Not everyone can charge at home and even 20 minutes is too long if we’re expecting everyone to be driving EVs in the future.
Purdue University, with the help of Ford, has invented what it thinks is part of the solution with a cable capable of charging an EV in only 5 minutes.
EV chargers with higher charging speeds do deploy liquid-cooled cables to combat the heat, but Purdue says they remove only so much heat. The university’s solution? Switch from liquid cooling to liquid phase-change cooling.
Read the article at Jalopnik.
Coming Soon: The Car Rental Return Process Goes Autonomous
Using technology developed by Ford and Bosch, your next rental car may very well be able to drive itself—only without you in the car. You'll drive up, surrender the keys to an attendant and go on your way.
The attendant will check the car in, scan the exterior for damage, the interior for forgotten items, return the key fob to the car, and then dispatch it via a mobile app. This app orders the garage infrastructure to communicate with the car, start it, and drive it to the interior cleaning station. When finished, the cleaning crew will use its app to send the car to the exterior wash rack.
Here, the automation stands to improve quality, as most rental places utilize a rack design through which the car must slowly drive to get clean. An attendant in a rush can short-change this step. From there, the car is dispatched to a parking area to await its next rental.
Read the article MotorTrend.
The Upside of an M&A for Impacted Customers
By Ed Pierce, Contributing Editor
Because of the depth and breadth of the fleet industry products and services, we have seen that there’s a good chance that a supplier may be acquired or merge with another supplier.
At first, the potential disruptions are top of mind concerns. Pricing, service levels, billing and other systems, strategic partnerships are all critical in contributing to the smooth operation of the fleet.
Often overlooked after a merger or acquisition is the opportunity for a customer of an acquired or merged supplier to improve even a satisfactory relationship.
