The Reva Electric Car Co. is bringing its act to New York, reportedly set to build a new fleet of electric cars to be situated in the Syracuse area. The company will be in cahoots with Bannon Automotive where they will assemble the three-door plug-in hatchback at a site somewhere in the Syracuse area. The plant is expected to be officially announced at a news conference and will open next year with an initial workforce of 100 people.

(Source) WKTV

Tags: cahoots, electric cars, fleet, news conference, nxr, reva electric car, reva electric car co, syracuse area, workforce

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GM will revive the Chevrolet Caprice brand in 2011. However it will not cater to the private vehicle groups but rather towards law enforcement. The Caprice will be brought back for a new fleet of North American Police cars which will not be based on any current GM model. They will come in V6 and V8 engines and will pick up of from the expected exit of old brands, G8 and Pontiac. The Caprice was a popular choice for law enforcement until it stopped production in 1996.

Dealers will start taking down orders by the fourth quarter of 2010 and delivery of the vehicles will commence in 2011. No word on the pricing though.

(Source) NY Times

Tags: american police, Chevrolet, chevrolet caprice, fleet, fourth quarter, g8, GM, law enforcement, police cars, Pontiac, private vehicle, v8 engines

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Volvo has received a new order for 125 trucks from Vijay Leasing Company in Hydreabad, India, to be delivered this summer which will be used in coal and steel mines for Southern India. At the moment, Vijay Leasing Co. already has 108 Volvo trucks under its fleet.

In Volvo Trucks’ full ten-year presence in India, this is the largest order ever and a milestone, according to Pär Östberg, member of Volvo’s Group Executive Management and President of Trucks Asia. There are a total of 5,500 Volvo trucks in India, which is the world’s fourth largest truck market.

“In India, Volvo Trucks belongs to the premium segment and has secured a place as the leading manufacturer in terms of safety and environmental responsibility”, says Pär Östberg. “We have a solid customer base, very strong customer relationships and the best aftermarket solutions”.

The sale is being conducted through VE Commercial Vehicles, which is a joint-venture launched in 2008 between Volvo and the Indian company, Eicher Motors. VE Commercial Vehicles comprises Eicher Motor’s trucks and buses, and the Volvo Group’s truck sales and service network for trucks and buses.

(Source) Press

Tags: aftermarket solutions, buses, commercial vehicles, eicher motor, environmental responsibility, fleet, joint venture, leasing company, southern india, Volvo, volvo group, volvo trucks

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JMobile offers a great fleet management solution with the launch of their JMobile GPS Vehicle Tracking System. Normally, the matter of trying to optimize and make sure that vehicles carrying out deliveries and the like would be a problem such as a broken down vehicle somewhere. Many have tried the manual means of close monitoring but have not shown accurate returns.

This time around, GPS technology can help monitor and determine slack time which was originally untraceable. The new Mobil-i JMobile software is a Java based application which means it can run on all of the popular mobile devices regardless of phone network or brand of device. Users can bring up their vehicles current location & status which can quickly be displayed & plotted onto either satellite view or map view.

“Using the Mobil-i tracking system we were able to pinpoint the broken down truck and give its exact location to the recovery service. This meant they got out to him quickly and were able to get him moving again in time to catch the ferry. This one example saved us over €1000 for that day alone” ” – Paul Brady, Owner of Hawkesbury Services Santry, Dublin 9, Ireland.

So it is a matter of addressing issues which normally relied on a phone call or worst, failure to deliver on time issue. This time around, whether your driver is just taking his sweet time for no apparent reason, companies can determine the problems included in the whole mix.

(Source) Press

Tags: apparent reason, deliveries, device users, dublin, exact location, failure, fleet, gps vehicle tracking system, hawkesbury, launch, management solution, mobile devices, phone call, satellite view, slack time, time issue

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Toyota has recently announced that they will begin marketing a redesigned second generation Prius in Japan on June 8th.

Primarily for commercial use, the Prius EX will be priced around $19,700 and hold appeal to customers who aren’t quite ready to make the third generation jump. Or to those companies looking to make the green leap without breaking the bank.

Don’t expect the EX model to be too fancy as Toyota says they will only release white, black, and silver versions all with grey interior. A nice little addition to their already market dominating hybrid lineup, Toyota hopes to sell 2,000 of these a month.

Press release after the break. (more…)

Tags: commercial, fleet, hybrid, Prius, second generation

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May is EcoDriving month hence a call for motorists to try and improve their driving skills such as improving fuel consumption and reducing the carbon footprint use. To mark the first EcoDriving month, the program is partnering with Indy Goes Green, sponsored by the racing team of Nelson Philippe. The program raises awareness about how to be an EcoDriver, and aims to be the first-ever carbon neutral Indy team.

“The key to EcoDriving is that anyone can do it, in any vehicle, and best of all, it’s easy,” said Dave McCurdy, president and CEO of the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers. “Now, as the summer driving season gets underway, EcoDriving month is the ideal time for each of us to renew our green driving habits.”

During National EcoDriving Month, the Auto Alliance and its 11 global automakers are working to educate consumers about the benefits of EcoDriving through www.EcoDrivingUSA.com. Practicing EcoDriving produces the highest mileage from every single vehicle, regardless of size or age–potentially affecting the United States’ entire fleet of 245 million automobiles. As a result, the possible benefits of the program are significant, and many fuel-saving EcoDriving practices are surprisingly simple, such as:

• The U.S. Department of Transportation estimates that using cruise control for 10,000 of the miles driven in a year could save a driver nearly $200 and more than 60 gallons of fuel.
• Observing the speed limit and not exceeding 60 mph, where legally allowed, can improve mileage by up to 23 percent.
• Traffic lights are often synchronized so that a motorist driving at a specific speed will pass through a series of green lights without stopping. Driving at a steady speed can help drivers avoid red lights, therefore keeping their vehicles moving more efficiently.

(Source) Press

Tags: alliance of automobile manufacturers, auto alliance, automakers, automobiles, consumers, cruise control, department of transportation, estimates, fleet, fuel consumption, indy, mileage, motorists, nelson philippe, speed limit, steady speed, traffic lights

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