The 10 Most Fuel-Efficient Pickup Trucks You Can Buy
Modern trucks are capable of better fuel economy than you might expect, especially when you consider the booming class of smaller, lighter midsize pickups, and the fuel-sipping diesel engines and hybrid powertrain options rapidly proliferating among full-size trucks.
The most fuel-efficient new pickup truck you can buy is a full-size, diesel-powered Chevy Silverado 1500. This light-duty truck uses the 3.0-liter turbodiesel inline-six that's optional on the GMC Sierra. Like the GMC, it throws down a solid 33 mpg on the highway and 23 mpg in the city.
The Ram 1500 EcoDiesel just edges out the GMC Sierra diesel in the roundup by way of its superior highway fuel economy. Though both full-size trucks nail 26 mpg combined, the Ram's 33-mpg highway performance is the tiebreaker.
Read the article at MotorTrend.
Ford Ready to Unleash E-Transit EV Van—For Nearly Fifty Grand (!)
The 2022 Ford E-Transit van, a rear-drive van powered entirely by electrons, will start at $44,990. While that seems like a lot for an electric work van, a regular gas-fed Transit starts at $43,390, so, not far off.
There’s a 67-kWh battery pack below the cargo floor that should offer a maximum of 126 miles of range. For skittish fleet managers, Ford is backing up the powertrain with an 8-year, 100,000-mile warranty. The vans top out at 3,800 pounds of payload, or 4,290 pounds for the cutaway/bare chassis versions.
Ford estimates a 40 percent reduction in maintenance costs, so the E-Transit should be a very attractive vehicle for short-haul urban delivery duty. The E-Transit will be available in eight configurations - including three roof heights and three lengths - and Ford says its seeing healthy interest in all configurations.
Read the article at The Car Gossip.
The Autonomous Vehicle World is Shrinking – it’s Overdue
The autonomous vehicle industry is confronting some hard truths. The first is that autonomous vehicles are going to take a lot longer to reach mass scale than previously thought.
The second is that it’s going to be a lot more expensive, too. Right now, investors are not feeling as confident in the prediction that autonomous vehicles will soon become the dominant form of transportation. They will require huge financial investments and a willingness to tolerate zero cash flow until the technology is mature and safe enough to launch.
And the third hard truth: going it alone is no longer a viable option.
Read the article at The Verge.
Combating Driver Fatigue, a “Triple Threat” Behavior
When it comes to driver safety, it’s imperative to be on the lookout for the Triple Threat of Speeding, Distraction and the hidden risk of Fatigue.
Can Fleets Vaccinate Against the ‘Triple Threat’ to Drivers?
Speeding. Distraction. Fatigue. Three extremely well-known high-risk behaviors, and in some ways so familiar that people can become complacent to them
By Ed Dubens, Founder/CEO of eDriving
Facts like these no longer appear to shock:
• Speeding contributes to around 30% of road deaths in high-income countries and around 50% in some low and middle income countries
• Fatigue is thought to contribute to around one in five car crashes
• Drivers using a mobile phone are around four times more likely to crash
But, with the latest preliminary data from the National Safety Council (NSC) estimating that as many as 42,060 people died in motor vehicle crashes in 2020 – an 8 percent increase in deaths, and a 24 percent increase in death rate over 2019, it’s critical that we find a way to refocus our attention on these behaviors, and double (or triple!) our efforts on the management of such behaviors.
