Trucks at Work Blog

“Significant reductions in battery cost are imperative for the electric vehicle industry to grow.” –Pike Research

It’s no secret that some of the major impediments facing the electric vehicle (EV) industry – with range and sticker price among them – all largely devolve from the limitations imposed by today’s battery technology.

For starters, batteries are incredibly expensive – especially the lithium-ion types now being favored by automakers – and they are going to remain pricey for some time as a variety of companies continue seeking ways to boost battery power density while reducing weight simultaneously.

That means, for the foreseeable future, battery technology development is going to remain locked in the research and development stage – not a stage that makes EV pricing attractive to everyday motorists. more

It’s a truck! No, it’s a boat! No, it’s the AMPHITRUCK! Agggghhhhh!

Actually, in all seriousness, this is a pretty neat – and unusual – piece of equipment. Built around the proprietary High Speed Amphibian (HSA) technology developed by the Gibbs Amphibians company, the Phibian (pictured at right) joins the firm’s Humdinga as some of the only truly “multi-modal” trucks that can operate easily on either roadways and waterways with but the flick of a switch.

[If you want to view more photos of the Phibian, click here.]

Obviously, both the Phibian and Humdinga (now THERE is a truck model name you won’t soon forget!) were developed primarily for military and search-and-rescue operations, but the company believes there are plenty of commercial applications for these vehicles as well – especially for delivering cargo to hard-to-reach rural areas. more

The “Super Bowl” is more than the culmination of the National Football League (NFL) season and one of the most watched televised spectacles in the world (though soccer is by far the more popular global sport … just sayin’!). It’s also considered the ultimate moment in television advertising – and not just for the price tag, which is a record $3.5 million per 30 second slot this year. (Whooooo daddy!)

For this is moment when advertising agencies and their clients alike pull out all the creative stops and try to come up with something that not only captures the imagination of TV viewers during the game, but then goes “viral” on the Internet … getting watched (and talked about) over and over again via Youtube, Facebook, etc.

That’s what happened to Volkswagen and Chrysler last year, whose Super Bowl ads not only made a big splash during last year’s matchup between Green Bay and Pittsburgh, but ended the year two of the highest rates advertisements for all of 2011. more

“Gen Y’s strong affinity for hybrid vehicles could make it the generation that leads us away from traditional gasoline-powered vehicles.” –Craig Giffi, vice chairman and automotive practice leader at global consulting firm Deloitte LLP

Could the ongoing shift between generations help foster greater acceptance – and thus wider acquisition – of hybrid vehicles? That seems to be one of the conclusions from a recent survey conducted by global consulting firm Deloitte LLP.

Craig Giffi, vice chairman and automotive practice leader at Deloitte, noted that the firm’s annual survey of Gen Y consumers (now in its fourth year) found that a strong majority (59%) of Gen Y respondents prefer an “electrified vehicle” over any other type of car or truck.

Moreover, Gen Y consumers heavily favor hybrid gasoline-electric vehicles (57%) over pure battery electric vehicles (2%) or vehicles with a traditional gasoline-only powertrain (37%). more

“This year’s survey results clearly demonstrate that the investments in new products and product innovation over the past several years have helped U.S. auto manufacturers become more competitive. Moreover, it is a clear indication that perceptions of U.S. automakers and auto quality have changed.” –Gary Silberg, national automotive industry leader for consulting firm KPMG LLP

It’s a great feeling, to say the very least, to witness what can almost be called the rebirth of the U.S. automotive industry. From being left perilously close to the ash heap of history a little more than five years ago, the now-rechristened “Detroit Three” – Ford Motor Co., General Motors, and Chrysler – are all back in the black; not only profitable, but selling high-quality products consumers and critics alike are taking a shine to.

It’s a testament to sheer perseverance on the part of automotive engineers, assembly workers and – dare I say it – executives to have stayed the course through some of the worst times imaginable in order to achieve a turnaround of this magnitude … and the best part is, they ain’t done yet.

That, at least, is the feeling one gets after leafing through the 13th annual global automotive executive survey conducted by global consulting KPMG LLP – a survey that found, in a marked turnaround after years of economic uncertainty and industry restructuring, global auto executives saying that U.S. auto brands will continue to increase market share over the next five years. more

“As a potential mass production vehicle, the Nissan e-NV200 concept would also provide a reduction in operating costs compared to current internal combustion engine vehicles.” –Hideto Murakami, corporate vice president, Nissan Motor Co., Ltd.

Nissan showed off a new all-electric cargo van similar in size and style to Ford Motor Co.’s popular Transit Connect (a van that is also offered in an all-electric format) at the 2012 North American Auto Show in Detroit, MI, this week – a vehicle it expects will combine driving range similar to Nissan’s all-electric LEAF sedan with payload and cargo space similar to the current NV200.

Now, Nissan’s NV200 multi-usage vehicle is only currently available in Japan, Europe and China right now but – based on the growing popularity of Ford’s Transit Connect – I for one would not be surprised to see it pop up in the U.S. market sooner rather than later.

The Nissan e-NV200 concept, like the LEAF, is powered by a lithium-ion battery composed of 48 compact modules connected to an 80 kilowatt AC synchronous motor that generates 207 lb-ft (280 N-m/rpm) of torque.

As a potential mass production vehicle, Hideto Murakami, corporate vice president for Nissan Motor Co., Ltd., said in a statement that the Nissan e-NV200 Concept would also provide a reduction in operating costs compared to current internal combustion engine vehicles – something he considers critical to the future of EVs as a whole. more

“Electric vehicles are still in their infancy, and while we’ve seen some recent model introductions, consumer demand has so far been modest. While we can expect no more than modest demand in the foreseeable future, we can also expect OEMs to intensify investment, fully appreciating what is at stake in a very competitive industry.” –Gary Silberg, national automotive industry leader with consulting firm KPMG LLP

The good news about electric vehicles (EVs) these days is that OEMs large and small are still making investments in this alternative form of propulsion.

The bad news – if it can called that – is that EVs are still projected to be adopted very, very slowly by consumers both in the U.S. and worldwide.

A recent poll of 200 global automotive industry executives by consulting firm KPMG LLP (a report given the unsurprising title of Global Automotive Executive Survey 2012) revealed that nearly two-thirds (65%) of them don’t expect electrified vehicles – including all-electric and various hybrid models – to exceed 15% of global annual auto sales before 2025.

Executives in the U.S. and Western Europe are even less sanguine about that adoption rate, projecting EVs will only account for 6% to 10% percent of global annual auto sales by 2025. more

“Water, water, everywhere … Nor any drop to drink.” –Samuel Taylor Coleridge, from The Rime of the Ancient Mariner

It’s seems a little bizarre, frankly, to contemplate an automaker’s publicly avowed effort to reduce the amount of water consumed by its vehicle manufacturing efforts.

I mean, one can more readily understand efforts to, say, reduce the amount of aluminum, steel, plastics, and other such raw materials that go into the making of cars these days.

But water? Really? Frankly, it’s a little hard to grasp this concept — at least initially.

Then, of course, one begins to realize that the thousands of people staffing vehicle manufacturing plants around the world use an awful lot of water each day.

Water is also a key ingredient in vehicle paints, too, thus making the paint chemistry part of water conservation efforts as well when it comes to vehicle manufacturing. more

Most folks (myself included) loathe television commercials. Indeed, if you are of a certain age group (and that certainly includes me), you’ll recall a time when only four or five television channels existed: all of them laden with commercials that couldn’t be avoided.

Now, in the age of cable television, TiVo, direct TV and the like, you can skip over them or even edit the dratted things out of your favorite shows completely.

Yet, despite all that being said, television commercials remain a distinctive and very powerful marketing tool. Indeed, every year, those that make them for a living generate vignettes that – despite their necessarily miniscule length – capture our attention and imagination.

And often times, not surprisingly perhaps, the “best of the best” in the world of television commercials center around motor vehicles. more

“For U.S. automakers and suppliers, the past year can best be described as 12 months of mixed results, leaving unanswered questions about the future direction of the industry and what is required for manufacturers and suppliers to thrive.” –Scott Corwin, partner, Booz & Co.

The automotive industry generates a lot of freight for the trucking industry in a host of different ways, from raw materials and components headed to assembly plants to parts for dealer and store shelves, not to mention of course the gleaming, finished cars and trucks headed to the showroom floors of dealerships across the U.S.

With all of that in mind, how’s the automotive industry shaping up for 2012? And does trucking stand to benefit?

Global consulting firm Booz & Co. recently compiled an “outlook brief” to help provide some insight into these (and other) questions concerning the automotive industry; an outlook that seems to discern some pretty good trends, which – if they become reality – will no doubt boost freight demand from this sector of the U.S. economy.

Booz & Co. partners Scott Corwin, Evan Hirsh, Jan Miecznikowski, and Brian Collie – along with Mike Beck, the firm’s senior executive adviser, and Senior Associate Patrick Mulcahy – noted that U.S. light car and truck sales should exceed 12.5 million at the close of 2011; a number they characterize as “a nice bump up” from 11.6 million in 2010 and 10.4 million in 2009.

Yet those figures are what the group calls “a far cry” from the 17.3 million units worth of annual sales witnessed in 2000 – indeed, even the most overly optimistic analysts forecast that U.S. vehicle sales will rise to no more than 14 million units in 2012. more