eDriving Appoints Sarah Bechtold as Senior VP, Global Driver Risk Management
eDrivingSM, a Solera company, has appointed Sarah Bechtold as Senior Vice President, Global Driver Risk Management.
Sarah leverages her unique and robust background to bring our global driver safety solutions to new customers, and to partner with new and existing customers in the development of implementation strategies and plans to maximize the success of each risk management program deployment.
“With Sarah’s first-hand experience of the deployment and management of a successful global driver risk management program, her knowledge will be invaluable to our clients and prospective clients,” said Ed Dubens, CEO and Founder of eDriving.
MIT Study: Tesla Drivers Using Autopilot Watch the Road Less
A new study has now provided data on how drivers using Autopilot behave. The researchers created a model based on observations of driver eye focus before and after they disengaged Tesla's Autopilot in 290 separate cases.
The study was released just before Tesla began distributing a Beta test of its long-ballyhooed and controversial Full Self Driving System (FSD) for Autopilot. Tesla plans to make the Beta version available only to drivers who have demonstrated good driving behavior as determined by Tesla's remote real time measures, such as jack-rabbit starts, hard braking, and too-close following.
It's not clear how FSD will actually monitor driver behavior from past implementations of Autopilot, which warned drivers if their hands were not on the steering wheel for too long.
Its conclusion is stark: When Autopilot was active, “drivers looked less on-road and focused more on non-driving related areas, compared to after the transition to manual driving.”
Read the article at Car and Driver.
A Year in, Farley Has Ford on the Move
It’s taken Jim Farley less than one year as Ford Motor Co. CEO to accomplish what his two immediate predecessors couldn’t over six: reverse the company’s long stock slide.
On Day 1, he appointed Ford lifer John Lawler CFO, replacing Amazon alumnus Tim Stone, as part of a modest executive shake-up and streamlining of operations. That same day, Farley unveiled a 10-point plan explaining his vision for the automaker to employees.
Since taking the helm, Farley has nearly tripled Ford’s investment in electric vehicles and decided to have the company make its own batteries, through a partnership with SK Innovation, rather than just buy them from suppliers as it previously had planned. He has reshaped Ford to emphasize commercial vehicles and technology development, elevating insiders to new roles and plucking talent from the likes of eBay and Apple.
Read the article at The Car Gossip.
This 2018 Invention Could Provide Inexpensive, Portable Flood Protection for Your Car
When Hurricane Harvey hit Texas and ran up the Gulf Coast in 2017, Houston resident and engineer Rahel Abraham was one of those whose lives were blown into disarray by wind and high water. Floodwaters totaled her 2008 Infiniti G35 convincing her to work on a way to protect cars in disastrous weather.
The result is the ClimaGuard, a military-grade, waterproof, temporary protective enclosure. When folded, ClimaGuard is a 30-pound plastic tarp that fits in a compact duffle bag. One person can get a vehicle secured inside in about ten minutes in a simple process much like putting on a car cover.
Although designed for vehicles, the ClimaGuard will protect anything that can fit inside. Abraham says, "The compact car size could literally fit a living room ... You could put two couches in there, a table, you could stack it up because the compact car size is about 14 feet."
Read the article at Autoblog.
Electric Last Mile Solutions Poised to Be 1st to Market with Commercial Class 1 EV
Electric Last Mile Solutions Inc., a commercial electric-vehicle startup, is poised to be first-to-market with a commercial Class 1 EV in the U.S.
It said it had received a binding purchase order for 1,000 units of the Urban Delivery from a distribution partner, Randy Marion Automotive Group. Shipments are expected to go out starting Sept. 28.
"From the outset, we stated that our goal was to deliver the first commercial Class 1 EV to the U.S. market, and with the start of production this week we will achieve that milestone," ELMS CEO James Taylor said in a statement.
The Urban Delivery targets a range of about 125 miles and costs about $25,000 after an available federal rebate.
Read the article at The Detroit News.
