13 Amazing Electric Vehicles That Will Change The Game

Cars powered by fossil fuels will soon be a thing of the past. Soon countries will run out of carbon credits and cleaner air strategy will take over its place. Reducing air pollution is the new motto of many car companies. Let us take a look at the amazing electric vehicles that will change the phase of transportation.

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1. VW Budd-e

One of the most awaited electric cars by Volkswagen, this is not just a car but a creation. It is the electric microbus of the future and it boasts of a couch at its rear. This is 100% electric car is fitted with a 101-kWh battery, thereby enabling the vehicle to go impressive 373 miles on a single charge.

2. Thor Trucks

A startup that came out of nowhere is now supposed to be a rival to Tesla’s truck. Their prototype named as ET-one aim to modernize the trucking industry. With just 18 employees this venture is tiny compared to its competitors. Thor has been able to tow 80,000 pounds of cargo with ease so far.

3. NIO ES8

Chinese electric vehicle company NIO has brought out their new vehicle ES8 which is a sports utility vehicle that can run 500 kms on a single charge. NIO is all set to enter the next phase of electric car market with this SUV. Formerly known as Next EV, NIO is a Chinese company producing electric vehicles that are eco-friendly and economic.

4. Audi E-Tron Quattro

Expected to be out by 2018, the Audi E-Tron Quattro is a four-seat that looks like an SUV. It has 500 bhp under its hood. It goes from an amazing 0 to 100 in 4.6 seconds. It is said to have 3 engines one that drives the front axle and two in the rear axle. Audi claims it can reach a top speed of 210 kmph. Quattro is something to watch out for.

5. Vigo motorcycle

A British company Vigo is creating the first fully electric motorcycle. It has an amazing 400 mile range and can go from 0-60 mph in just 3.2 seconds. Although it is in the concept stage and is looking for crowdfunding, it looks promising enough to capture the market. With a 120 bhp direct drive motor, it has a storage facility and a digital lock. Moreover, it has a built GPS tracker too. Impressive, isn’t it?

6. Jaguar I-Pace

Jaguar’s concept car is a five-seater sports car and it’s totally electrifying. With the cutting edge of zero vehicle emissions technology, it is set to introduce Jaguar to the world of electric cars. On the first test drive itself, the vehicle was able to cover a jaw-dropping 321km.

Read Also: “5 Cool Things About Geo-Fencing That You Didn’t Know”

7. Zero SR

Zero motorcycles is a California based company that is introducing its new line up of electric bikes that have faster charging and greater mileage. The new model SR is equipped with heavier batteries that are charged 6 times faster. It can go up to 223 miles on models that have the ZF14.1 battery and ZF3.6 Power Tank accessory. It is designed for smoother and quieter rides.

8. Nissan Leaf

As the name suggests, it is an eco-friendly no-emission electric vehicle that is quite affordable. It runs 172 kms on a full battery charge. The largest market of Leaf is the United States with over 1 million cars sold. It is already on the roads. It has won the Green Car Vision Award in 2010. Reduced dependency on petrol is the idea of Nissan.

9. Electric Ship, Ahoy!

A Chinese shipyard company Ltd has launched the world’s first all-electric ship. The ship which that has a length of 70.5-metres can haul 2000-tonnes of cargo at 80 kmph after charging for two hours. As the ship has zero emissions it can put a stop to the oil leakages happen frequently. Even though it is powered by electricity it has managed to achieve a top speed of 12.8 km per hour.

10. Tesla Model 3

Tesla is one of the pioneers in electric vehicles. The name has become a brand by now which requires no further introduction. Model 3 is a luxury sedan that has a range of 350 km. With a five-passenger seating capacity it can go from 0 to 60 miles per hour in 5.1 seconds. Designed to achieve a 5-star safety rating Model 3 is claimed to have traction even on ice. Look out for the next model of Tesla to hit the roads.

11. Hyundai Ioniq

Hyundai Ioniq is a hatchback vehicle that has hybrid and all electric variants. It comes with 5 doors and an aerodynamic design that helps to lower air friction. The Ioniq is Hyundai’s entrance into the hybrid market. The Ioniq Hybrid’s electric motor delivers an estimated 139 bhp and is eco as much as it is powerful.

12. Tesla Semi

Tesla Semi is a heavy-duty all-electric truck. On the other hand it claims to be safe and comfy. It has an acceleration of 0-60 mph with 80k lbs in 20 seconds. It shows that it has got the power that it claims to have. It consumes only 2 kWh/mile which is the lowest energy cost per mile.

13. Catalyst E2 Max

Proterra, an electric bus manufacturer has created Catalyst E2 Max the bus that broke the previous record of driving the maximum distance in one recharge. It drove an outstanding 1,101.2 miles without stopping to recharge. Although it was on a test track with no passengers or traffic, it is still quite impressive. Because an electric bus can revolutionize the public transport. Imagine all the fuel that is going to be saved and all the pollution that is curbed.

Conclusion

This list of 13 Amazing Electric Vehicles that will change the game will help you understand the rapidly transforming EV industry and keep in you updated with the latest trends in the amazing electric vehicles industry

10 Electric Cars That Are Surprisingly Cheaper Than They Look

With petrol and diesel raising concerns of using up the fossil fuels and governments trying to lower the harmful emissions, electric cars have become the future of transportation. Even though vehicles with hybrid engines will be launched in the car market in the coming years, electric vehicles would be the dominant ones in the driving landscape.

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Earlier, least level of practicality, poor performance, and limited range showed that even the top model electric cars were not equal to the conventional cars. However, the electric cars today can efficiently deliver up to 62 mph and cover a range of 300 miles to challenge the supercars.

 

Top 10 Low-Cost Electric Cars

We have compiled a list of best ten electric cars to help those who are planning to own an electric car but have a tight budget.

 

1. Chevrolet Volt

Electric vehicles in 2016 as well as this year. After its launch during the year 2008, the Volt has undergone several revisions and changes to make it the best one among the cost-effective electric vehicles in the automobile market. The plug-in hybrid car can cover up to 420 miles range and offers 53 electric miles.

 

When charged regularly, it can go beyond 1000 miles without any fill-ups, as a mighty direct injected 1.5L engine powers it. The car has a 240V charge system that helps it get charged in just 4.5 hours, and a 120V portable cord can charge it for 13 hours. The starting price of this high-efficiency EV is $33,220.

 

2. Volkswagen e-Golf

The electric cars by Volkswagen assure the buyers that they are safe while they travel by such electric motor powered vehicles. The e-Golf delivers top quality, proven and straightforward appeal similar to its conventional counterparts. With a single charge, this car can drive 80 miles and can be charged at a public charging station or with the help of a home kit.

Read Also: “10 Things That Can Go Wrong in Employee Transportation”

This highly responsive car is equipped with excellent regenerative braking to avoid road crashes during rainy days. It has an array of driver assistance features ranging from Park Distance Control, Forward Collision Warning to Park Assist to help the driver park it easily even in a small parking lot. The price range of this car starts at $30,495.

 

3. Nissan Leaf

Nissan has been successful in adapting electric revolution, which explains why Nissan Leaf has been gracing the streets of several countries across the globe. This four-seater comes with a decent boot space of 370 liters that makes it an apt choice for small families.

This electric car is quick and responsive to offer a drive ranging from 124 miles to 155 miles. The dashboard display of Leaf features tree icons to support economic driving and outlines the brand’s planet-saving responsibility. It can reach its full charge in 8 hours using a domestic three pin socket. You just have to spend about $30,680 to own this Nissan electric car.

 

4. Chevrolet Bolt

The Bolt by Chevrolet was launched this year and has received a warm welcome for its affordability and practicality. In fact, this electric car has reshaped the EV world, as can cover about 238 miles while delivering a high output of 266 peak torque and a fantastic output of 200 horsepower.

The floor mounting battery pack of Bolt supports low gravity center, provides optimum energy efficiency with open pedal driving and has a stable design to offer a comfortable ride. This people carrier also zips in a warm and spacious cabin and sports a big touchscreen of 10.2 inches plus DC charging options. The Bolt EV is a family car and is available in a price range of $36,620.

 

5. Hyundai Ioniq

The Ionic from Hyundai is the only electric vehicle that comes in 3 different electric powertrains. This electric powered car reaches 62 mph within 9.9 seconds, as it is backed by a powerful electric motor with 118 bhp.

The maker claims that Ioniq can drive for 174 miles in a single charge while 150 miles would be more than enough for everyday use. This affordable electric car has several safety features like blind spot detection, Auto emergency braking along with pedestrian identification and lane departure warning. This hatchback comes with a starting price of $29,500.

 

6. Mitsubishi I- MiEV

This electric car is offered by Mitsubishi at an affordable range to cater to the small budget families. This vehicle is designed to deliver 66 horsepower while covering 62 miles with an impressive torque of 145 lb. This electric vehicle is priced at $22,295.

 

7. Renault Zoe

This small sized hatchback is the cheapest electric car in the market and is based on the design of Renault Clio. With a huge 338-liter boot space, this car is easy to drive, as there is no need to change gears. This super silent electric car can cover up to the 250-mile range and regenerative braking system. Renault Zoe is available in a price range of £13,995 to £20,645.

 

8. Kia Soul EV

The Soul, the South Korean brand is equipped with a powerful battery that helps it cover a range of 93 miles with an electrifying torque of 210 lb-ft. Its battery can attain 80% charge in just 35 minutes. Kia Soul comes with a starting price of $33,950.

 

9. Ford C-Max Energi

The responsive handling of Ford C-Max Energi makes it a fun-filled experience to drive it. The spacious design of this electric car enables it to house Li-ion batteries of 7.6 kWh effortlessly. This reasonably priced EV is powered by Hybrid Electric Powertrain of 2.0L, regenerative braking system eCVT or electronically controlled continuously variable transmission. The starting price of this Ford vehicle is $27,120.

 

10. Smart ForTwo

Those who wish to own a small-sized affordable electric vehicle that can drive well in city traffic conditions, and then Smart ForTwo is a wise choice. This two-seater car can cover a range of up to 100 miles and can reach full charge in just 3 hours. It can drive up to 62 mph at 11.5 seconds and can reach 40 mph in a jiffy. The cost of this compact vehicle is $25,270.

Conclusion

Car makers also offer EV or electric vehicles with seven seats for big families with space needs.  No wonder, the electric car market has been experiencing a rapid growth in the recent years.

240 mph, Virgin Hyperloop Sets Record – Why is it the Imminent Future?

Yes the Future is here! Virgin’s supersonic pod Hyperloop One has successfully delivered in the full scale test by reaching an amazing 240 mph. It has broken the earlier record set by Tesla at 220 mph. During the test phase conducted on December 15 on the grounds of Nevada, the pod that uses magnetic levitation through vacuum created a break-through in Virgin Hyperloop realization.

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Theoretically Hyperloop can achieve a maximum speed of 700 mph. If the concept is realised it could take the pod 380 miles in about half an hour. The transition from normal atmospheric and vacuum conditions was experimented using new airlock systems. The pod uses minimum energy to attain high speeds because it travels in extremely low air pressure which reduces friction and air resistance.

The Maiden run

While conducting the test, the approximate air pressure inside the tube was that of 200,000 feet above sea level. Built in a nearly airless environment in which the 28 foot long pod is loaded into a 1600 foot long tube, it can take you faster than a bullet train. The unmanned test pod that ran through an evacuated cylinder reached a speed of nearly 387 km/h during the third test phase that was accomplished on December 15th.

Read Also:“Top 10 Issues Faced by Business Travelers & Their Solutions”

The ultimate mission is to carry passengers and goods creating a system of tubes across distances that can take passengers at airline speeds. The fact is that the system neither has air friction due to the vacuum, nor ground friction as it uses magnetic levitation.

This makes it cheaper and faster to operate, compared to other modes of transportation that rely mostly on fossil fuels. Due to very low aerodynamic drag, the pod will lift above the track and glide at a speed an airline picks up during long distance travel. Now you can imagine where you can enter a pod to reach your destination in no time. But I’m pretty sure you can’t stand or walk like you do in other modes of transit. You don’t want to be a victim of inertia.

Investments imbued

In total the company has raised $295 million since it was found in 2014 which gave a head start to your dream of travelling between locations at hyper speeds. After a global strategic partnership was signed up with the Virgin Group the company is set to raise another investment worth $50 million.

The venture looks up to pursue opportunities in key markets like the Europe, Russia and Middle East with the help of investors like Caspian Venture Capital and DP World. It has already raised $50 million from foreign venture capital investors and the new chairman of the board of directors is Richard Branson.

Relevancy in future

Virgin Hyperloop pods would help connecting people to jobs that were previously inaccessible to workers who need to commute over longer distances. Hyperloop is soon to reach out to all places in the world and will make travelling much more easy and more over faster. In turn, this can help bridging the divisions in social and economic norms.

On the other hand it is good for business as it saves a lot of time for commuters. In case of a regular worker who believes that an extra dollar is better than an extra hour, this might not prove very productive.

Conclusion

The Virgin Hyperloop that runs through a tube that is nearly vacuum and bullet trains that use magnetic levitation to travel at high speeds when combined gives amazing results. But realizing the full fledged concept of Hyperloop has uncertainties as it faces issues due to politics and regulation.

5 Cool Things About Geo-Fencing That You Didn’t Know

GPS trackers are now being put to use mainly for tracking purposes. However, there is a new feature for GPS which has already come in handy for many. Let’s have a look at Geofencing and its killer features that you never know.

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What’s Geo Fencing?

Geo fencing is a location-based feature in the software that uses GPS or RFID to create virtual geographical boundaries. It sends push notifications to users who enter a particular geographical area. Besides that, it has a lot of application in a virtual parameter. It is a great opportunity for brands who want to sell their product based on the location. Brands can send a notification, discount coupons, and offers to regular as well as new customers. It makes sure that the relevant content is communicated at the right time at the right place.

The applications for geo-fencing are endless. People who travel to the same place again may get a notification for a welcome drink at a hotel nearby. A store owner will have an idea about who is a re-visitor to their store and thus have a better customer base. This will improve customer interaction.

 

Geofencing, how does it work?

Working principle of geofencing is pretty much straight forward and simple. An admin or a developer can set a virtual boundary in Google Maps using specific API’s when they develop apps. In short, when a user breached a geo fence it should trigger responses in accordance with the specifications of the developer.

Read Also: “10 Ride Sharing Companies that Can Ease Your Work Trip”

Geo fencing is not just confined to apps it has wide range of application such as in shipping industry, agriculture, cattle industry, security purposes etc.

Let’s see in detail

1)    Location-based pop-ups

It can send location-based pop-ups on your device, while walking by a store. This is done by adding a circle or a pentagon around the store in Google map and when customers enter this they get a notification and is engaged by the store. When customers enter a particular location they get pop-ups on their device. This will make sure that a customer at a location is not missed.

2)    Offers to customers

You can use geofencing to send information and offers to your prospect. Sending a good and catchy content is important. Make sure you know what you are trying to communicate with your prospect. You might want the prospect to buy something from you, or sign up with you, whatever it is, be clear about your objective. You customer can check in to your store if they find a deal that is interesting to them.

3)    Setting parameters

Setting your perimeter too large or too small affects the campaign that you are running. If it’s too large you might not be reaching the relevant prospects or if it’s too small you might not reach all your prospects. So you have to set the parameters right. Like it is said above a circle or a pentagon specific to your store can help nearby customers to reach you.

4)    Location

Geo-fencing is great for outdoor activities. You can reach a particular group of people with an offer that is exclusive to a summer camp. It is not relevant to someone who is outside the summer camp. So the area of geofencing must be carefully chosen. Thus even outdoor activities can be pepped up using geofencing.

5)    CRM

30% of the world’s population is using geofencing. It improves sales and customer loyalty. It helps to build a good CRM data. So you can know when a customer who had visited your store earlier is near you. You can even know the activities of your competitor. It also helps you get customer feedback from surveys and feedback forms which are great for business.

Conclusion

GPS trackers are now being widely used for tracking. Nowadays a new feature (geofencing) is added to these trackers besides just tracking. Virtual boundaries can be set up app providers or tracker provides for various purposes. However, only a few know about this killer feature and its incredible benefits. Know More

Hoax or Not? Beer As an Alternate Fuel For Your Vehicle

As ridiculous as it sounds it is indeed true that scientists have successfully transformed beer into an alternative fuel for our vehicles. With minimum or no engine alteration, this could mean that the use of diesel, petrol, and gasoline can be replaced with a sustainable alternative.

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Birth of the idea

The first step towards creating sustainable petrol using beer as a key ingredient was taken by the chemists at the University of Bristol. Scientists agree to the fact that brewing ethanol by industrial fermentation process can be essentially used as an alternative fuel to other kinds of fuel.

Read Also: “Autonomous Vehicles – How Will It Change Public Transportation”

Professor Duncan Wass, whose team led the research, said: “The alcohol in alcoholic drinks is actually ethanol which is exactly the same molecule that we want to convert into butanol as a alternate fuel .” With the rise of fossil fuels, it is essential to find new alternatives to the diminishing resources we have left. Ethanol is what constitutes an important ingredient in alcohol.”

 

Future Possibilities

Lower energy density and corrosive in nature makes ethanol not an ideal replacement for petrol. It is difficult to make butanol from sustainable sources. So, the idea is to convert ethanol which is an active ingredient in beer into butanol. This can be achieved by a petrochemical process similar to that used for refining gasoline.

As a biofuel additive for gasoline, ethanol is already put to use to make renewable fuel. It is commonly found in biomass such as corn, malt, sugar cane, molasses and other forest products.

This might take no more than 5 years for the fuel to be used on an industrial scale. At present the results are not enough to fuel transportation as only a few hundred grams of butanol can be derived from beer.

In the United States fuel is sold as a blend with up to 10 percent ethanol. The most suited alternative to petrol would be bioethanol. If a butanol can be made from sustainable sources then it can be a better alternative to petrol or gasoline.

Butanol can be considered a petrol replacement and can be used on an industrial scale if the technology works well with alcoholic drinks, especially beer.

Concluding Thoughts

Let us hope for a future where we can substitute fossil fuels that create a lot of pollution with biodegradable fuels which can fuel our means of transportation. Cheers to that!

Autonomous Vehicles – Where Do We Stand?

It is now and happening. Fully autonomous cars will soon be out of the garage. Many companies are striking a deal with Aurora Innovations; a venture co-founded by Chris Urmson and will soon introduce Autonomous vehicles to the market. Urmson says “The planned autonomous vehicles will include fully self-driving pods, shuttles or delivery vans and self-driving trucks without a cabin”. Aurora has signed deals with both Volkswagen and Hyundai and will soon launch autonomous vehicle in about three years.

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Volkswagen and Hyundai are to bring out more than 15 million vehicles every year and are planning to integrate Aurora’s software and sensors which is an artificial intelligence technology. This will change the way we look at transportation.

 

How does the technology work?

Toyota has installed a technology called LIDAR which uses lasers to determine its surroundings. Just like the principle of a bat or sonar, the lasers shoot out, hit the objects around and bounce back to the sensors to determine the surrounding. The technology works by combining software and sensors to control, navigate, and drive the vehicle. Based on these, the vehicle creates an internal map of the surroundings and the software process these inputs and decides on a path and sends information to the actuators which control the steering, acceleration, and braking.

What renders a feeling of safety is that it uses hardcore codes, predictive modeling, and can know the difference between a truck and motorcycle. These help the vehicle to follow traffic and navigate through obstacles. Humans are great drivers, but on the contrary, machines are better at following rules.

 

Where we are now?

Companies like Mercedes, BMW, and Tesla already have several autonomous vehicles with self-driving features. Google has a self-driving car project called Waymo that hit the streets in 2009 and claims to make driving less stressful and roadways safer. Car making giants Volkswagen and Hyundai say their self-driven cars will be out on roads by 2021. Volkswagen Chief Digital Officer Johann Jungwirth says that it is part of “the reinvention of mobility and the automobile.”

Read Also: “Will Employee Satisfaction and Corporate Transport Management Go Hand-in-Hand”

Volkswagen said that it would be associating with Silicon Valley Company Aurora to create self-driven cars and hopes to launch a fleet of cabs in the streets by 2021. “With Aurora, VW gains access to an experienced and globally leading development team in software and hardware for driverless vehicles,” the Wolfsburg-based group said in a statement.

 

What do they mean to the future of transportation?

Soon our roads will be swarming with vehicles that don’t have a driver to maneuver it. It is estimated that by 2020 almost 10 million cars will be on the road. While looking out for any pedestrians or obstacles, these autonomous vehicles can detect road signs, follow traffic signals and keep track of other vehicles with the use of video cameras. We can imagine people and goods being traveled around without a driver. You choose the destination and sit back and relax and even drink a cup of coffee while you are on the run. Trucks will be delivering goods to the destination in no time as the driver needn’t take rest in between. But a negative impact of this is that many drivers will lose their jobs. Although at present the trucks are not fully automated but have facilities similar to an autopilot function in an airplane.

 

Dubai has recently tried out an air drone in collaboration with Volocopter. The mission is to call an air taxi just like you would book a ride in Uber. Amazon is been given a patent to try out drones that can deliver in 30 minutes and even recharge itself by connecting to an electric car.

Conclusion

Autonomous Vehicles are the future of automotive industry. Even though we have seen a vivid image of them in movies, in reality, we are far behind. But we are we on the right track. Keep in touch with us to the latest updates that are happening in the autonomous vehicle industry.

 

7 Unique Features of GPS Trackers For Employee Productivity

As long as companies are legally safe and open to their employees about GPS tracking, it can help employers to keep an eye on their employees by establishing a comprehensive and controlled management structure. It helps to ensure their security by keeping track of their location during work hours. By gaining access to data that includes monitoring employees remotely, employers are able to understand staff behavior. Let’s take a look at the different features of GPS Trackers,

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1. Fleet Management

With the use of GPS tracking, routing and dispatching become a lot easier to the dispatcher to locate every vehicle in a fleet. The closest vehicle to any job site or address can be monitored using GPS tracking solutions. It helps to automatically locate the vehicles nearest to an address. So an employee will be able to come across jobs easily and employers can easily find someone who is ready to take up a task.

It can be ensured that drivers are taking the most direct route to a job site and re-route them if they get lost during the journey. Real-time traffic reports can help employers to warn drivers regarding this and provide the right information about traffic delays.

 

2. Cost Cutting

Employees can save by monitoring activities like over speeding or idling to save fuel and also reduce depreciation on the vehicle. You will be able to receive time sheets and its results while you are online and install auto-payment feature. This ensures faster payments and reduces your load at the end of the month.

You can customize the system to suit how you keep a check on your employees’ productivity. You can also insert a form to track work records along with GPS tracking system, which in turn comes handy when you want to keep the record of work and payments.

 

3. Monitoring Activities

A lot of employees have admitted that they use the internet for purposes that are not related to work. While they work on other things they find less focus on the tasks they have been assigned.  A good tracking system will help to reduce the unproductive hours by keeping an eye on the employees’ behaviour online during work hours.

Read Also: “Top 10 Benefits Of Employee Transport Management System”

The better you can keep an eye out to understand the employee behaviour during work the better the tracking system is. A good GPS tracking system can record individual online activities and find out what they are working on during working hours. Ultimately it is a human resource tool where you can find out who your most productive employees are.

 

4. Avoid Unauthorized Activities

GPS tracking enables employers to see it employees are using vehicles or tools for authorized purposes and only during work hours. If a vehicle or a tool enters off-limit areas the concerned person will be alerted and thus help business keep track of their vehicles or tools. GPS tracking can send alert the owners when a particular vehicle enters a location. In other words, it can also alert the owners if a tool or vehicle has been misplaced or stolen and help them recover it without losing precious time.

But a vehicle activity alert is especially useful for businesses that allow drivers to take company vehicles home. It can track employees who make use of vehicles to carry out unauthorized side jobs and use the company time to handling work unrelated to the company. This significantly helps to improve production and reduce any liabilities that arise from such malpractices.

 

5. Safety and Security

You wouldn’t want your staff to be in any kind of trouble. One of the most important features of tracking your employees is a concern for safety. GPS tracking can give you a fair idea of the location of your personnel and ensure their security. Tracking systems helps to improve the overall safety and security of the staff by locating their employees in case of an emergency and quickly reach them at the right time. Employees who are travelling can be given live reports about traffic congestions, accident-prone locations, nearest gas stations or restaurants.

 

6. Live Dispatch and Customer Satisfaction

When a GPS tracking system being is integrated with your dispatching system, you will know which of your employees is nearer to them and best positioned to meet your customer’s need. This will make your delivery system more efficient by increasing response time and you will also be appreciated for your quick response to the query made. In this way, tracking helps you to improve your customer satisfaction.

 

7. Employee Productivity and Accountability

Once you are on par with your employees and their activities you get to manage your employees and their daily schedule. Business flow can be ensured when you have the right information to take the right decision timely. You can count on your employees when a customer requirement arises and meet them at the right time.

Thus overtime costs can be easily managed with the use of a GPS tracker. If in case an accident occurs involving your trucks or your employees a tracking device justifies your employee if false accusations are made and if he hasn’t done anything wrong.

Conclusion

The future is already here – it’s just not evenly distributed. Features of GPS Trackers is scaling up fast a good tracking system helps you optimize  your fleet operations by analyzing the performance & preventing breakdowns.

What other features of GPS Trackers do you look for? Share it with us

Being a Transport Manager – All You need to know

The job of a Transport manager is hectic and stressful. No, not discouraging you. Just stating a fact.

The job involves working in shifts and even during weekends to catch up with the schedule of drivers and attendants. Transport managers calculate and implement the most economical routes and ways of completing the journey as there are budgetary restrictions.

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A transport manager has to make sure that the whole operation is carried out with the laws and regulations that governs the vehicle safety, traffic congestion, customs requirement, environment controls, fuel emission, driver hours and food hygiene wherever it is applicable. In this article we will discuss about the types of transport operators, guidelines and duties of a transport manager.

What do they do?

Transport managers co-ordinate routes and schedules be it goods, people or services. They ensure that passengers or goods reach the destination safely. Some of the main duties of include.

Develop The Business

One of the main roles of a transport manager is to develop and grow the business. The more the logistics are handled well the better it is for the company. Transport managers play a crucial role in achieving profits for the company as they limit the expenditure that arises from transporting goods, people or services.

Manage a Team of Supervisors, Staff and Drivers 

The whole of the team reports to the transport manager. It is the manager who gives instructions and manages the fleet and its employees. Drivers and other staff will report the routes they are going and where they are at.

Organising Vehicle Replacement 

If one of the vehicles require maintenance or is broken down, the transport manager replaces the vehicle and continue the trip with a new vehicle.

 Meeting Targets 

If any targets are to be met and timeline has to be kept it is the responsibility of the transport manager. They make sure that the operations meet its targets.

 Co-ordinate Staff Training 

The training required for the staff is coordinated and imparted by the transport manager. When higher authorities communicate a message it is transferred to the staff and they ensure that it is carried out.

 Arrange Vehicle Maintenance 

The whole of the fleet is managed by the transport manager. Vehicles that require maintenance are reported to the manager who arrange for repairing the vehicle.

 Performance Reports To Directors 

The board of directors rely on the transport managers to give weekly or monthly reports.

 Planning Routes and Load Scheduling

The routes and schedule is planned by the transport manager. He chooses the best route for travel and makes sure that optimum usage of fuel is ensured and any kind of wastage is avoided.

How To Become a Transportation Manager

The duties of a transport manager include maintaining records, schedule routes, handling customer redresses and complaints and manage staff. A manager performs his job by coordinating all these factors of logistics to move people, goods or services to different places. A transport manager goes through rigorous training while he starts his career in management.  You need to enroll in transportation certification programs to become a transport manager.

Read Also: “Employee Transportation Software Facts to Check Before You Choose”

Without doubt you need and engineering degree to work in transportation systems. Policy formation and managing transport network is the core jobs in this field. Like we discussed the two disciplines are engineering and transportation planning. Although there a certification for both engineering and transportation planning. You can complete the training within a year or less after pursuing in undergraduate or graduate level. To qualify you need GED (general Education Development) or school diploma.

Skills Required

 

Assess the Value of Communication and IT Packages

The transport manager should be able to assess the value and quality of IT packages and communication methods that are implemented.

Approach irate Customers and Exhausted Drivers Tactfully 

The manager should be good at handling customers as well as personnel. There might be times when the transport manager has to deal with drivers who are tired at the end of the day.

Should Have Numerical Skills and An Analytical Mind 

A good analytical mind is required to make quick decisions. Also he should be in good terms with numbers because the job profile is all about making terms with numbers and calculations.

Ability to make quick decisions and good judgments regarding finance 

As said before good judgments are required to make better decisions about how to channel finance.

Great coordination and negotiation skills 

Negotiation skill is an important function that every  manager should have. By negotiating the transport manager can coordinate the whole procedure.

Make crucial decision by making use of intuition 

Intuition is a personality trait that is required for a transportation manager. It is important while making crucial decisions.

A good knowledge of transportation industry 

A manager is expected to have a better knowledge about the whole industry. It helps in planning out various strategies to rule out the wrong decisions.

Conclusion

Transport Manager Job is not meant for everyone as it is both physically and mentally demanding one. Thanks to technology nowadays, there work pressure has been reduced to a great extent. Hope our read help you understand what it means to be a transport manager.

Driverless Cars – Which Companies Are in the Forefront

Driverless cars are soon to be the future of transportation. If you don’t believe it, such cars are already in the garage and almost ready to hit the roads. Soon you will be giving instructions as to where your destination is and these autonomous cars will take you to the place you want to go. There are many companies that are into testing and developing driverless cars. Imagine a future where you don’t have to drive to your destination but just sit in the vehicle and get automatically transported through the traffic.

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The new technology is impressive and will revolutionize with the concept of a car that doesn’t have a driver, steering or pedals. The question is will people feel safe in a car that doesn’t have a driver to control it. A level 5 autonomous car is expected to be safe and fully automatic. Let me go through the companies that are currently into cars that will shape the future of transportation.

  • Nissan

Nissan has partnered with NASA to build Infiniti Q50 that can drive unaided through the roads. The CEO Carlos Ghosn said that the firm will make a vehicle with autonomous vehicle systems. Nissan hopes to enter their cars on the road by 2020. But unfortunately the car is available only in Japan.

  • General Motors

US based General Motors have initiated driverless cars by testing its partially self driving car technology by partnering with Cadillac.

It has entered the rapidly transforming automotive industry by hands free technology and semi autonomous features where the driver can take their hands off the wheel by staying in a lane.

  • Apple

Apple confirmed that it is into the development of self driving car system. However they haven’t confirmed whether it is car they are developing or its supporting software or both. Apple’s driverless car system will detect pedestrians and cyclists. “We’re focusing on autonomous systems and clearly one purpose of autonomous systems is self-driving cars, but there are others,” said Tim Cook the CEO of Apple.

  • Audi

Delphi a car parts supplier had equipped an Audi SQ5 with autonomous driving tools and rode 3500 miles from San Fransisco to New York. This is a considerable achievement in the world of driverless cars. Also, Audi will be using Nvidia technology to bring driverless cars on roads by 2020.

  • Nvidia

Those who are familiar with gaming knows the global chipmaker Nvidia. Now they have clubbed with Volkswagon and Uber to create self driving cars. Nvidia’s Drive IX SDK will be used to instil AI features and also language processing and gesture control. More than 300 companies are associated with Nvidia to create driverless cars, according to Reuters.

  • Volvo

Volvo is making progress in the field of self driving passenger vehicles. The company is planning to give 100 Swedish customers early access to its self driving vehicles.

Read Also: “Female Employee Transportation – Challenges and Safety Measures

The XC90 is an SUV that is labelled as ‘Intellisafe’ with a promise to avoid all kinds of accidents. While the vehicle is in autonomous mode the company accepts all liabilities related to the vehicle.

  • Tesla

Even though Elon Musk CEO of Tesla said they are to introduce driverless cars on this year it is unlikely that it will happen. We will have to wait and see if the commitment will be released this year. Tesla’s car is said to be equipped with 8 cameras that provide a 360 degree vision that will have a range of 250 meters. Besides this there are 12 ultrasonic sensors to complement it.

  • Baidu

You must be familiar with the Chinese company Baidu who has associated with BMW to released a prototype that is semi-autonomous in 2015. They have already tested the vehicle their technology on the highways in China. But the news is that they have parted in 2016 after a disagreement in strategy. Baidu has opened a research lab in Silicon Valley for artificial intelligence but the chief scientist has departed from the company in early 2017. Baidu is to release its self-driving vehicle platform Apollo. This includes vehicle hardware, software and cloud data platforms.

  • Bosch

As you know one of the world’s largest automotive parts Bosch has assigned more than 2000 engineers to the driver assistance system. Partnering with GPS maker Tom Tom the company is mapping data required for this purpose. They have made a commitment to make self driving cars a reality by 2020 at least in the highways. Bosch is also partnering with Mercedes and Tesla to realize self driven cars.

  • nuTonomy

nuTonomy is a start up company created by a group of graduates from Massachusetts Institute of Technology. They do provide algorithms and software for self driving cars. It has applied its sensors to Mitsubishi i-MiEV electric car prototype and has chosen Singapore as its test location. Its algorithms can direct a car around urban roads by GPS mapping the streets and using localization from the LiDAR sensors.

  • Ford

Ford is developing an entertaining system for self driven cars that they have named ‘Autonomous Vehicle Entertainment System’. It acts as a cinema screen that makes use of a projector to cover the front end of the car. Also Ford has been pushing its limits by testing their driverless cars on snow covered roads unlike other manufacturers of self driven cars.

  • Honda

Honda has conceived a partnership with Waymo on self driven cars. Honda is likely to supply automobiles for Waymo’s test fleet. They have an autonomous vehicles testing permit in California, but only tested on closed courses in 2016, Navigant wrote in its report. Honda has taken a conventional approach to self-driving cars and has testing permit in California.

  • PSA

Driving itself from Paris to Bordeaux four of PSA’s cars have displayed their capability back in 2015. ZF the autopilot parts manufacturer will supply them with software, radar and cameras that will assist the vehicle with governing self driving. PSA is one of the largest car manufacturers in Europe and is planning to have fully driverless cars on the road by 2020.

  • Hyundai

Hyundai had displayed its Ioniq electric car in the CES last year which is autonomous. In vehicles like Elantra Hyundai has showcased lane assist, driver assistance and other advanced features. The plans are to have a fleet of driverless features in production by the year 2020s not committing to fully autonomous systems until 2030.

  • Waymo

Formerly Google’s subsidiary of Google’s parent company and self driving vehicle project, Waymo is an autonomous driverless car development company. Waymo said that it will be testing fully self driven cars without a human in the driver’s seat. It has partnered with General Motors to produce cars without pedals and a steering wheel and is to be released by 2019. They are way ahead of Tesla in the technology and are soon to lead the driverless car market.

  • Volkswagen

Volkswagen has announced that self-driving cars will be common by the year 2025. VW Group CEO Matthias Muller said that a prototype demonstration will be available within 4 years. In the V-Charge project an e-Golf will be equipped with 3D maps, cameras and other sensors that will aid the car to park itself without a human assistance. Volkswagen claims that they will introduce self-driven cars faster that the market competition.

  • Samsung

South Korea’s transport ministry have given approval to test driverless vehicles on the public roads. Based on Hyundai’s self-driven cars that are equipped with sensors and cameras, Samsung has become a leading supplier of in-car technologies and vehicle systems. The Korean tech giant has purchased 8 billion dollars of Harman who are leading suppliers of self driving technology and vehicle systems.

Concluding Thoughts

Can you imagine a near future where you enter a car and ask the car to drop you at a destination? We’ve seen in it Total recall where Schwarzenegger talks to a bot while in a car. Soon you will be able to drive in driverless cars. So be updated on every news about driverless cars with employee transport management.

Features of Byton Concept SUV vs Tesla Model X

The whirl wind that EV (Electric Vehicles) have been creating is too strong to ignore. It won’t be long until internal combustion engines might just turn to vintage models amid rope stanchions in museums. Ok that might be an exaggeration, but yeah! EVs are the future of the road for obvious reasons – shrinking oil reserves and increasing oil prices. In this blog we will talk about the features of Byton Concept SUV vs Tesla Model X the top EV manufactures in the world.

“It’s time to rethink the car” is what Byton- an all new start up based in china and headed by ex BMW boss Carsten Breitfeld said, when they unveiled their first  prototype SUV that was the star car of CES 2018!

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The Byton SIV (SIV- Smart intuitive vehicle- as they like to call it) is all over the news and is said to have all the futuristic features to be the competitor of Tesla’s SUV Model X.

Let’s take a look and compare the features of Byton Concept SUV vs Tesla Model X

1. Power on tap

Byton has promised 2 power train configurations.

Either single 268bhp electric motor driving rear axle or 4WD version with a combined power delivery of 469bhp.

Model X has 259hp for the front wheel drive version and 503hp for the AWD version.

Seems like Tesla still has the upper hand in its AWD version.  But it won’t be hard for Byton to crack that number given their zeal for upgrades.

2. Range 

Tesla’s model X will take your breath away with its ludicrous mode going up to a neck-snapping 257 miles on a single charge.

Now since they are launching it head to head the luminary in the EV business how could Byton even possibly hesitate to squeeze in the horse powers.

Byton claims a range of 248 miles on a single charge, whirling up to an exhilarating 323 miles with an upgraded battery pack.

For the speed junkies out there, the two cars might not make much of a difference simply because, both offer the same thrill.

3. Cabin tech

Model X has a 17-inch touchscreen that controls nearly all vehicle functions, including the power doors.

Byton has made sure you are left flabbergasted with the most lavishly crafted cabin tech, the moment you step inside in the car.

It has an overwhelming 49 inch curved LCD, Shared experience Display running from coast to coast, in place of dashboard, the screen being gesture controlled.

Read Also: 10 Ride Sharing Companies that Can Ease Your Work Trip

The screen is capable of video calls, navigation, online playlist for music, and can even communicate with a wearable on the driver or passenger to get health information.

Now in case you are worried about safety being compromised as that is the space for the air bag, chill!

Air bag will inflate from below the screen in case of a crash, complying with safety standards.

4. Driving experience

Byton front seats can swivel almost 12 degrees.  People in front can easily stretch or interact with others in the rear seats of the car, by switching to level 3 self-driving mode.

The car can self drive in many situations except a few where a human instinct will require to take over. The company has promised to equip the car with level 4 autonomy once the government regulations permit.

The only thing here that model X lacks, is the rotating seats.

Other than that the driving impression of model X P100D is as crazy as the Byton. You can almost lay back and sprawl in the peaceful thrust of the EV.

5. Finally the price

After the recent price cut the Tesla model X now starts at $79,500.

Byton on the other hand has quoted a very impressive price tag with its first SUV starting at $45,000 onwards.

So with this there is a chance that Byton would sweep the Tesla’s markets clean as it offers more tech features compared to Tesla and horse power equivalent to it.

The Byton SIV (Smart intuitive vehicle- as they call it) will be launched in its home country by the year 2019 and a year later in USA and Europe.

It won’t be an easy climb for Byton to match the credibility of Tesla, but since they are offering us hopes wrapped in affordable budget, it could turn out otherwise.

The model X surely pales in comparison to the mouth watering features that Byton has to offer.

But who knows. It is Elon Musk that we are talking about! This moment invading space with his roadster and the next thing you know he launched a teleportation device.

Exaggeration again! But the point is, For Byton, it is definitely a race against time.

Conclusion

Electric cars are not the thing of the future it is already here. There is stiff competition between car makers to bring out the best models that have the highest running time. Hope our read helped you compare the cars brought out by Byton and Tesla.