|
|
 |
|
The New York Times
In order to compete with the future of the auto industry, General Motors, Ford Motor and Fiat Chrysler are showing their dedication by reducing costs, adjusting production with demand and making cuts to unprofitable vehicles to rental car companies and corporate fleets.
Profits from conventional products are vital to finance the new technology necessary for electric and self-driving models.
“We have a clear path to leverage what we’ve done historically,” said Jim Hackett, who became Ford’s chief executive five months ago. “Our first priority is to restore revenue and attack costs.”
Read more of the original article at The New York Times.
|
Wired
Autonomous driving is hitting the streets in big U.S. cities like San Francisco, New York and Pittsburgh, where sets of rules make it possible. Europe, South Korea, Singapore, and Japan are also getting ready.
But what about Middle Eastern and African countries with little structure – it’s common to see cars driving the wrong way, running red lights, and zigzagging across wide roads without the slightest regard to lane markings.
“There are no rules here. Everything is possible,” said Daniel Asmar, a computer-vision expert and engineering professor at the American University of Beirut. “Humans can deal quite well with that, even if they get frustrated and honk at each other.” For computers, the chaos would be an enormous challenge.
Read more of the original article at Wired.
|
TechCrunch
As carmakers are vowing to change their vehicle fleets to electric or hybrid-electric, utilities such as Italian power giant Enel are taking notice.
Enel acquired Electric Motor Werks, a small, fast-growing California developer of charging stations and power management software.
“Electric vehicles have the potential to be one of the most disruptive technologies the modern electricity grid has faced in the last one hundred years,” said Francesco Venturini, head of Enel’s Global e-Solutions division, in a statement. “The electric mobility revolution is leading utilities, grid operators, and consumers to rethink traditional business models, invest in new infrastructure, and roll out new solutions to provide flexibility and resiliency to the grid.”
Read more of the original article at TechCrunch.
|
CNBC
Waymo, also known as the Google self-driving car project, will start testing its self-driving cars in Michigan.
“For human drivers, the mix of winter conditions can affect how well you can see, and the way your vehicle handles the road. The same is true for self-driving cars,” President and CEO John Krafcik said. “This type of testing will give us the opportunity to assess the way our sensors perform in wet, cold conditions.”
Testing of Waymo’s fleet in Michigan means it will be close to the self-driving technology development center as well as some of the Michigan autoworkers working on self-driving cars.
Read more of the original article at CNBC.
|
|
|
|
|
By Mark Boada, Senior Editor
In the wake of the Volkswagen emissions scandal and a new-found focus on nitrous oxide emissions, Western Europe is falling out of love with diesel. Witness the following:
- Several countries – including Norway, France and the U.K. — have announced they will ban the sale of diesel vehicles over the next 10 to 23 years, and a growing number of cities have announced they will ban diesel cars from their streets by the next decade.
- Demand for diesel cars is falling: in the first half 2017, sales of gasoline-powered vehicles surpassed diesel vehicles for the first time since 2009.
- Prices of used diesel cars in several markets have declined, reportedly, in some cases, by up to 25%.
- A number of countries are raising annual taxes on diesel cars or fuel, or both.
|
|
| |
The NETS Safety Conference
|
|
|
|
If you’re in fleet — whether fleet management, safety, risk or procurement, you should seriously consider becoming a member of NETS
By Mark Boada, Senior Editor
As the newest member of the Fleet Management Weekly editorial team, it was a great privilege and pleasure to attend one of the finest fleet conferences I’ve been to — the 2017 Network of Employers for Traffic Safety Strength In Numbers Annual Fleet Safety Benchmark Conference last month in Charlottesville, Virginia. And while that complete title is a mouthful for a two-day conference, it fully lived up to, if not exceeded, my expectations.
For those of you who might be unfamiliar with the organization – “NETS” for short – is in its own words “an employer-led public/private partnership dedicated to improving the safety and health of employees, their families and members of the communities in which they live and work by preventing traffic crashes that occur both on and off the job.”
READ MORE
|
|
|
By Wendy Eichenbaum
Nobel Prize winner Daniel Kahneman, psychologist and founder of Behavioral Economics, says that we have Two Selves: the Experiencing self and the Remembering self.
The Experiencing self lives continuously, where the psychological present is about 3 seconds long. Most of these experiences don’t leave a trace. The Remembering self makes sense of our experiences and forms a story. According to Kahneman, “What defines a story are changes, significant moments and endings.”
This choice of memories has huge implications for the customer experience. Imagine that you develop billing software. You roll out a new version that changes the invoice task flow. As a result, many customers cannot find the invoice statement at the end of the task. They call tech support, and get a quick answer: the system placed the statement in a new folder. The problem is solved.
However, the next time you revise the software, what will your customers remember?
READ MORE
|
|
|
|
|
