Month: April 2015

by Jon LeSage, editor and publisher, Green Auto Market 

Here’s my take on the 10 most significant and interesting occurrences during the past week…….

1. Clean transportation product launches coming up: Ford, Cummins Westport, the North American Council on Freight Efficiency (NACFE), Rush Enterprises, Alliance AutoGas, ClipperCreek, Parker, Bauer Compressor, Quantum Technologies, Superior Transportation Solutions, and other companies will be introducing new alternative fuel and clean vehicle technologies at the Alternative Clean Transportation (ACT) Expo. Event organizer Gladstein, Neandross and Associates (GNA) expects that more than 3,500 clean transportation stakeholders and 200 plus exhibitors will convene May 4-7 at the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center in Dallas for ACT Expo, the industry’s largest annual alternative fuel conference and expo. “As the transportation industry faces volatile oil prices and continually tightening emissions regulations, it’s vital for fleet operators to understand the wide range of options available—including electric, hybrid, hydrogen, natural gas, propane autogas, renewable fuels, DME, clean diesel, and efficiency technologies,” said GNA CEO Erik Neandross.
2. Enterprise and Trucking Moves America Forward Honor Earth Day: With the 45^th annual Earth Day taking place on April 22, Enterprise Rent-A-Car announced its contribution for the 10^th consecutive year to the Arbor Day Foundation. The Foundation uses funding from the Enterprise Rent-A-Car Foundation to plant one million trees throughout the US, Canada, the United Kingdom, and Germany as part of the Enterprise 50 Million Tree Pledge. By the end of 2015, 10 million trees will have been planted through the program in forests  through this unique public-private partnership, which – in addition to the Arbor Day Foundation – also includes the US Forest Service, US National Park Service, Tree Canada, Trees Ontario, the U.K.’s Woodland Trust and the German Forest Protection Association (Schutzgemeinschaft Deutscher Wald). Trucking Moves America Forward (TMAF), the industry-wide image and education movement representing all areas of the professional truck driving industry, honored Earth Day by celebrating the progress the trucking industry is making toward a more sustainable future, which includes adopting industry recommendations to reduce carbon emissions. Some of the many programs, efforts and technologies that trucking companies and drivers support include: training that emphasizes fuel-saving driving techniques; reducing wait times at loading and unloading docks to decrease engine idling emissions; reducing pollution through ongoing participation in the EPA SmartWay Transport Partnership program; advancing alternative-fueled vehicles and fuels; lowering fuel consumption by reducing empty miles driven; and promoting more efficient freight hauling and freight packaging practices.
3. Tesla-rama: Hackers took on Tesla Motors by attacking its Twitter site and media-relations email account on Saturday. Tesla joins Sony Pictures and several other companies in getting hacked; in this situation, the hackers who entered Tesla’s Twitter feed were able to post messages to the company’s more than 564,000 followers, and one of the attackers responded to an email message to Tesla’s press contact……….. JB Straubel, co-founder and CTO of Tesla Motors, will be a keynote speaker at the 2015 EIA Energy Conference. The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) will hold the conference on June 15 and 16 at the Renaissance Downtown Hotel in Washington, DC………. Tesla CEO Elon Musk only earned $35,360 from his Tesla paycheck last year; however, Musk has done very well with his Tesla stock portfolio over the past two years and from his salary at SpaceX, the private rocket launching service he also founded.
4. No more Bullsh*t about hydrogen:  As Toyota begins production of its Mirai hydrogen fuel cell car, the automaker is taking on hydrogen critics. It’s the most abundant element in the universe, but critics say that hydrogen fuel cells are not going to work as a viable alternative energy for transportation – it’s dead on arrival. Those that call it “bullsh*t” are right, but not in the way they think, the Toyota video says. Manure provides an enormous amount of energy, as do water and other sources, explains Toyota engineer Scott Blanchet while visiting a farm.
5. Audi plug-in hybrids: Audi believes plug-in hybrids are the best alternative to offer customers, and will be making that option a preferred choice for customers on several models over the next 10-to-15 years. First up will be a full-electric model – an Audi SUV with a 310-mile range that will take on Tesla’s upcoming Model X crossover, says CEO Rupert Stadler.
6. Americans support RFS: Renewable Fuel Association just paid for a consumer survey and found there’s bipartisan, majority support for the Renewable Fuel Standard. More than six in 10 Americans support it with Democrats at 65%, Independents at 61%, and Republicans at 57%. Less than two in 10 oppose it, and 20% have no opinion. Now it’s time for the US Environmental Protection Agency to release its volume standards.
7. Allied Specialty Vehicles has CNG and Propane partnerships: Big announcements from Allied Specialty Vehicles (ASV), a maker of vehicles for commercial, fire and emergency, and recreation markets……… ASV has an exclusive partnership with Westport to expand availability of the compressed natural gas (CNG) Westport WiNG™ Power System beyond school buses manufactured by Collins Bus; the CNG system will be added to commercial bus, emergency, and other vehicle products.  A week earlier, ASV announced its exclusive partnership with CleanFUEL USA to expand its lineup of propane autogas products. ASV will move beyond propane-powered Collins Bus school buses to “increase the breadth of propane autogas systems we can offer to our customers,” said Tim Sullivan, ASV president and CEO.
8. BMW adding to i series: BMW is adding to its plug-in electric i subbrand with the i5, which will be based on its 5 series. BMW will begin selling the i5 in 2018 and expects that it could be its best-selling i model. The plug-in hybrid executive sedan will have a gasoline engine and two electric motors.
9. Quantum adding to offerings:  Quantum Fuel Systems Technologies Worldwide, Inc., is expanding its offerings beyond natural gas storage systems and plug-in hybrid F150s – hydrogen fueling dispensers. Quantum received multiple orders from Linde North America to develop and manufacture retail hydrogen fueling dispensers for the further development of hydrogen fueling infrastructure in California, which should be delivered by the fourth quarter of 2015.
10. EV used vehicle values: NADA Used Car Guide’s Perspective: Electric Vehicle Retention Report Card was just released this morning. Here’s part of it: “For the most part, used EV prices continue to be very soft, which really isn’t much of a departure from how prices have tracked over the past couple of years. Used EV demand continues to be hampered by range and technology concerns, as well as by stiff competition from highly efficient—and more affordable—gasoline-powered cars.” Top performers on the list are the Tesla Model S at 83.1% retention value and Porsche Panamera S-E at 78.4% retention value. The Nissan Leaf is near the bottom of the list at 43.5% retention value.

For fleets of all types – from light-duty passenger vehicles to heavy-duty commercial vehicles – the challenge these days is making the business case for new vehicle acquisitions and refueling infrastructure that hits targets balanced with cost containment. Vehicle safety, fuel expense, route efficiency, maintenance and durability, and air quality and greenhouse gas emissions might be on the list – under the reality of limited budget constraints. Meeting sustainability targets is going higher up on the list for government and business fleets. Resources now being offered by carbonBLU, Fleet Vision, and NAFA Fleet Management Association will streamline the process and bring value to fleets needing to make that business case.

Rick Sikes, former Fleet Superintendent at City of Santa Monica, has taken the position of Chief Operations Officer (COO) for carbonBLU, which provides fleets with analytics, optimization, and deployment services for reducing spending and pollution. Sikes brings over 35 years of fleet management experience with a wide variety of equipment and alternative fuel vehicles; along with fleet positions at Frito-Lay and UPS, Sikes spent the previous 10 years at City of Santa Monica, which included help organizing the annual AltCar Expo in Santa Monica since 2006. Sikes also played a role in the testing phase of the new NAFA Sustainable Fleet Accreditation Program. Sikes and the carbonBLU team will be promoting that program to fleets as a tool to become more sustainable.

Sikes replaces Sedale Turbovsky, who will continue in his role driving innovation at carbonBLU, but will also be serving as Director of the Center for Alternative Fuels. carbonBLU recently received grant funding from the California Energy Commission (CEC) to create two physical and one virtual Centers for Alternative Fuels. These centers are a free resource dedicated to implementing economically and environmentally sustainable transportation energy strategies. The virtual center for alternative fuels allows fleet managers access to some of carbonBLU’s proprietary analytics tools and a wealth of information to help accelerate commercial deployment of alternative fuels.

Last week, Vision Fleet released a report, prepared for the Colorado Energy Office, on the economic suitability of alternative fuel vehicles (AFVs), efficiency improvement technologies, and alternative fleet management approaches for Colorado’s state fleet. The study holds relevance for other public fleets considering large-scale adoption of AFVs. Vision Fleet has become well known with fleets for its role with the City of Indianapolis in the largest to-date deployment of electric vehicles in a public fleet with 425 plug-in hybrid and battery electric vehicles.

The Vision Fleet report gained input from more than 30 agency fleet coordinators and sustainability contacts to identify appropriate options based on agency-specific vehicle use cases. The study utilized a total-cost-of-ownership (TCO) approach to assess where fuel and maintenance savings would likely offset the higher purchase price of AFVs.

The report recommends several procedural measures for making the case for AFVs and fuel-saving technologies, including committing to targeted, large-scale AFV deployments; replacing appropriate vehicles in the fleet;  effectively bringing drivers into the process; leveraging third-parties to make the business case with management; and identifying cost-effective opportunities for deploying AFVs, telematics, and idle-reduction technologies. “Electric and other alternative fuel vehicles already make economic sense for most public fleets,” said Michael Brylawski, Vision Fleet’s CEO. “The challenge is identifying the right vehicles to replace and then committing the necessary resources and effort – especially in the areas of education, tracking, and reporting – to ensure the program is successful.”

In this video interview with Fleet Management Weekly, Bill Van Amberg, Senior Vice President at CALSTART, talks about the recently announced NAFA Sustainable Fleet Accreditation Program. Van Abmerg says that in the program, NAFA Fleet Management Association and CALSTART look at a fleet’s portfolio to analyze the types of vehicles and fuels that are being used to set a baseline. Fleets are guided over a period of time on using different fuels, phasing in more fuel-efficient vehicles, changing how the fleet is operated, training drivers, and implementing idle reduction. The fleet will later be measured again and given a report card assisting fleets in making environmental improvements while at the same time showing a bottom-line value to their organizations.

The NAFA Sustainable Fleet Accreditation Program is now being structured on a four-tier rating system that evaluates fleets based on their environmental performance against world-leading goals. During the NAFA I&E conference in Orlando, NAFA Fleet Management Association, in conjunction with CALSTART, announced how the program has been designed to become an industry standard for recognizing concrete improvements in reducing emissions, increasing fuel efficiency, and reducing fuel use.

by Jon LeSage, editor and publisher, Green Auto Market 

Here’s my take on the 10 most significant and interesting occurrences during the past week…….

1. Launched last year, NAFA’s Sustainable Fleet Accreditation Program has rolled out of the beta-test phase and has become a distinct system. It’s now being structured on a four-tier rating system that evaluates fleets based on their environmental performance against world-leading goals. During the NAFA I&E conference in Orlando, NAFA Fleet Management Association, in conjunction with CALSTART, announced how the program has been designed to become an industry standard for recognizing concrete improvements in reducing emissions, increasing fuel efficiency, and reducing fuel use. “With this new program, fleets will be able to measure, manage and improve. Fleets start at any level of activity – the point is to start down the path: first by base lining where they are, then by validating their progress, and finally, by benchmarking themselves against rigorous standards and the actions of their peers,” said Bill Van Amburg, CALSTART Senior Vice President. “It is the new measure of fleet sustainability.” The NAFA standard can be applied to fleets of all sizes and types ranging from passenger cars to Class 8 big rigs. CALSTART provided technical assistance and worked with NAFA to develop the standards. To learn more, or to join the program, visit NAFASustainable.org.
2. Big EV announcements from GM: The Chevrolet Spark battery-electric vehicle has a $1,650 price cut and “bonus cash” incentives, at first in California and Oregon, that can cut another $1,000 to $3,500 off the sticker price; with the $7,500 tax credit, the electric Spark can sell for as low as $15,000. Cadillac launched a plug-in hybrid version of the CT6 luxury sedan at the Shanghai Motor Show; it has an adaption of GM’s second-generation Voltec hybrid system. Cadillac has a few more plug-in hybrids in its product pipeline – and did announced that its 2016 Cadillac ELR will have a slightly different powertrain than the CT6 and 2016 Chevrolet Volt; the 2016 ELR will keep its existing 17.1-kilowatt-hour battery pack and 1.4-liter four-cylinder engine but with a lot more horsepower and torque……..
3. SoCalGas is bringing together industry experts, natural gas truck manufacturers, and fleet operators for dinner and discussion on making the switch to natural gas for your truck or fleet of trucks. Topics will include making the business case for natural gas heavy-duty vehicles, natural gas truck refueling, and funding natural gas heavy-duty vehicles. Upcoming events include Inland Empire on May 12 at Riverside Convention Center in Riverside, Calif.; and San Joaquin Valley on May 19 at Hodel’s Country Dining in Bakersfield, Calif. There will be other events in Southern California in July, September, and October. Here’s a link to learn more about the event and to register.
4. Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn offered some interesting statements: Nissan plans to raise sales of its electric Leaf to 50,000 units a year from about 30,000 last year, with potential growth in public charging stations driving those anticipated sales. In China – where Nissan operates under the Venucia domestic brand – Ghosn would like to see the government increase incentives to move electric vehicle sales out of the stuck phase.
5. Tesla is waiting to hear whether Maryland Larry Hogan will sign a bill allowing the electric carmaker to sell directly to consumers. The bill was supported by the Maryland Automobile Dealers Association and would allow Tesla up to four licenses; having a cap on the number was enough to gain support from the dealer group. The governor will sign or veto the bill in about a week, or by mid-May, his office said. (In other Tesla news, a book will be coming out next month stating that management was going to sell the company to Google for $6 billion, but pulled the plug after seeing its first profits and stock share prices shoot up.)
6. A very impressive collective of trade groups has been formed to deal with the impending connected car, autonomous vehicle reality. The new Smart Transportation Innovation Coalition includes Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, Association of Global Automakers, National Automobile Dealers Association, Information Technology Industry Council (which has Apple, Google, Intel and Microsoft as members), Motor and Equipment Manufacturers Association, Intelligent Transportation Society of America, and Intelligent Car Coalition. The group’s main agenda will be educating lawmakers and policymakers about the potential benefits offered by advanced vehicle technologies.
7. It’s been a while, but there’s been another biofuels fraud case being prosecuted by government officials. Joseph Furando of Montvale, NJ, pleaded guilty last week in federal court in Indianapolis to all of the charges he faced, including conspiracy, wire fraud, lying to investigators, and money laundering. Prosecutors said Furando and his executive team face a May trial involving an allegation of about $55 million in illegal profits being generated through the scam.
8. For the third straight year Penske Truck Leasing has been honored by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as a SmartWay Affiliate Challenge Award winner. Penske is one of seven organizations across the US to be given the award last week at the Transportation Intermediaries Association (TIA) Capital Ideas and Exhibition Conference in Orlando, Fla. EPA honors organizations for doing an exceptional job in supporting the SmartWay partnership’s freight sustainability goals.
9. Plug-In America is honoring its 10^th anniversary by profiling 10 of its early adopter leaders who had been driving early editions of the Toyota RAV4 electric model and other limited volume electric cars in California; and in more recent times, the very first models of the Nissan Leaf and Chevrolet Volt. Among the 10 “pioneers” are Paul Scott and Linda Nicholes who have been very visible at EV events for several years.
10. Allied Specialty Vehicles (ASV), a leading manufacturer of motor vehicles for commercial, fire & emergency and recreation markets, has an exclusive partnership with CleanFUEL USA, an industry leader in propane autogas technology. Under the partnership, CleanFUEL will provide products and services to expand ASV’s line of alternative fuel vehicles, namely propane autogas.
11. Extra: In this week’s Green Auto Market Extended Edition…….. Clean vehicles being recognized as part of 45^th annual Earth Day features coverage of Kelley Blue Book’s “Ten Best Green Cars,” Clean Auto Alliance announcing the first-ever recipients of its Environment & Safety Elite Award, and Cars.com on which cities have the most eco-friendly buyers. Plus, the latest on the US fueling and charging station infrastructure and how much it’s grown in the past year (with one category declining in size). You can read more about it here.