Innovation Series Summary

by John Koehler Comment Closed
**This post contains affiliate links and the publisher may be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking on these links.**   Through this month we looked at how four areas of innovation are dramatically changing automobiles: how they move, how they’re accessed, and how our experience in them is changing.  Specifically we looked at Vehicle Connectivity, Mobility Solutions, Fleet Electrification, and Autonomous vehicles.  All of these innovations are at least partially rolled out, but at the same time it is clear that there is an expectation of dramatic change in the next 5-10 years, where many of the items that are a novelty today will become at least a substantial minority, and in some cases potentially the dominant technology in place. I had the opportunity earlier this week to attend an excellent conference called AutoMobility LA – it occurs during the 4 days preceding the annual Los Angeles Auto Show.  The conference organizers did a great job of assembling excellent speakers and...
Read More

Vehicle Electrification

by John Koehler Comment Closed
**This post contains affiliate links and the publisher may be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking on these links.**   In the earlier parts of this series we covered innovations in automotive that don't impact vehicle manufacturing directly, but now we switch gears to one of the largest changes to automotive design in one hundred years: phasing out the internal combustion engine in favor of electric power, and not just doing it in one model or for one make; but electrification of the entire fleet. What is Fleet Electrification? Fleet electrification refers to the move industry-wide (manufacturer by manufacturer) away from using internal combustion engines that require gasoline or diesel fuel towards designing and building vehicles that use only batteries or fuel cells, potentially with an interim step where the vehicle lineup consists of all hybrids and electric-only vehicles.  Obviously, a single model having an electric propulsion system (either all electric or hybrid) isn't new: the first Toyota Prius was introduced 20...
Read More

The More Things Change…

by John Koehler Comment Closed
**This post contains affiliate links and the publisher may be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking on these links.**   The "Internet Revolution" is now about 20 years in the making, dating back to the 1990's and overcoming a major hiccup in the dot-com crash in 2000. However, it picked up again as people recognized that the answer to everything humankind had accomplished until then wasn't equally suited to a stand-alone digital process.  Similarly, while more and more businesses are striking a better balance of how connected tools can facilitate, not replace, an existing process, it's important to recognize that the internet changes almost everything.   Since the second largest line item in many family's budget (after housing) is the money spent on vehicles, it's important to keep in mind what is (and what isn't) changing, since any lease agreement includes some bit of future forecasting.  While the lessor needs to do most of this forecasting in order to set the...
Read More