2021 Editors’ Choice: The Best New Cars, Trucks, SUVs, and Minivans

Car and Driver

With more than 400 new cars, trucks, SUVs, and vans to choose from in 2021 shopping for a new set of wheels might feel like a daunting task. Each year, the Car and Driver Buyer's Guide team leverages data from our strict regimen of instrumented tests, the expert subjective evaluations of our editors, and our knowledge of the market to select the top vehicles for a place on our Editors' Choice list.

The vehicles named to our Editors' Choice list are those that rank highly in their market segment; they comprise about one quarter of all the models currently for sale. The list includes those vehicles that were named to our 2021 10 Best list. But only vehicles that the C/D staff has had hands-on driving experience with are eligible for an Editors' Choice award.

Read the article at Car and Driver.

EV Charging Infrastructure Growth Isn’t About Replacing Gas Stations

Inside EVs

There’s no question that more and better charging infrastructure will be needed to support the transition to e-mobility. However, many non-EV drivers erroneously assume that this will mean simply replacing gas stations with charging stations.

Public charging is important, both for enabling long road trips and as a partial solution for those who don’t have the option of charging at home.

“Home charging is the most important; that’s where the highest number of charging [stations] will be needed,” Scott Hardman, a researcher at the University of California Davis, said. “It’s the cheapest; it’s the most convenient. Everyone parks their car somewhere at night—that’s where we need to get the charging to. We have to be careful it’s not just the privileged households that get the lower running costs.”

Read the article at Inside EVs.

Making the Business Link Between Driver Safety and Sustainability

By Ed Dubens, Founder/CEO of eDriving

Safety and sustainability are primary concerns for businesses today.

And, with driving for work being the most dangerous work activity many people do, and transportation being the main cause of air pollution in cities, the relationship between driver risk management and sustainability goals is one that should not be underestimated.

While the term ‘eco-driving’ is not new, it’s certainly been elevated to a buzzword right now. Why? Because companies are realizing the full impact they can have on the environment, and that sustainability is a business approach that can create long-term value.

Close to a quarter of energy-related global greenhouse gas emissions comes from transportation. So, it’s not surprising that companies are evaluating their transportation activities in relation to their sustainability goals.

A Call to Action: A Guide to Successfully Moving Through the Buying Cycle, Part II

By Ed Pierce, President of ITA Communications. Fleet.

As mentioned in last month’s ‘A Call to Action,’ there are an average of 8.2 key stakeholders involved in business’ decision-making process, making it harder than ever for sales and marketing to contact and effectively communicate with all the key stakeholders.

Research has found that engaging prospects is the biggest problem facing B2B businesses, closely followed by finding sales-qualified leads. Solving these issues begins by determining the difference between a hot prospect and a cold lead.

Developing qualifying questions will allow your marketing team to ‘score’ a lead’s sales readiness based on factors such as the industry and size of the business, geographic location, and previous engagement with your brand.

A Marketing Qualified Lead (MQL) who has indicated interest in what a brand has to offer is more likely to become a customer than other leads, and they’re more likely to be receptive to a sales pitch than a normal lead. Still, they have not made the step into a sales conversation yet.