< Previous8 April 23 2020 ■ fleetnews.co.uk Coronavirus lockdown presents new SMR challenges for fleets Closure of non-essential retail sites has left many gaps, but some workshops remain open By Matt de Prez leet operators must be more cautious of vehicle roadworthiness in the coming months as the coronavirus lockdown means some key maintenance and inspections will be deferred. The Government has suspended the requirement for heavy goods vehicles (HGVs) and public service vehicles (PSVs) to have an MOT test for three months, while MOT expiry dates for cars have been extended by six months. Maintenance is affected as some vehicles will be left parked for extended periods, while others will be used more frequently with limited opportunities for downtime. Fleet operators and company vehicle drivers can still access emergency repair and maintenance services as some garages and workshops remain open, albeit in a limited capacity. The closure of all non-essential retail sites was ordered on March 23, prompting car dealers to close their showroom doors immediately. aftersales services with a skeleton staff, while its Part Plus business also continues to operate. Stuart Foulds, TrustFord chairman and chief executive, said: We must play our own part in protecting the most vulnerable in our society and make sure the NHS and frontline services are able to function in the days and weeks ahead. Kia told Fleet News there is a limited number of dealers operating servicing facilities in particular catering for the needs of key workers. Jaguar Land Rover said more 50% of its service network is operating to provide essential maintenance and repair services to customers, while BMW said it is working with its retailers to establish what they are able to offer in terms of essential service and repair. Any fleet customer with urgent vehicle maintenance requirements which is unable to receive help through their normal channels should contact their BMW Key Account Manager for support, a BMW spokesperson said. Van and truck operators should expect a better service, with commercial vehicle service centres largely operating as usual. With the coronavirus lockdown expected to last into May, its likely there will be a pool of vehicles that are overdue a service or require maintenance after being parked up or only used for short trips. To give fleet operators and drivers peace of mind, the majority of manu- facturers have extended the servicing intervals and warranty cover for their vehicles to cover this period. PSA Group brands, including Peugeot and Vauxhall said customers can continue to use their vehicles provided the required main- tenance is performed within three months or 1,800 miles of the speci- fied service intervals. Mercedes-Benz has increased servicing intervals to the sooner of 180 days past the current due date or the vehicle covering 3,728 miles after a service was required. Epyx, which runs the 1link Service Network used by fleets operating around four million cars and vans, said fleets should not overlook the SMR advantages mobile mechanics can offer during the coronavirus pandemic. Tim Meadows, vice-president and commercial director of Epyx, said: For fleets that are involved in deliv- ering essential services and trans- porting key workers, mobile can provide the means for more flexible SMR provision, ensuring that vehi- cles stay roadworthy that might otherwise be difficult to maintain and repair. NEWS: SERVICE, MAINTENANCE AND REPAIR F Fleet operators can avoid a large number of breakdowns after the coronavirus lockdown is lifted by advising drivers of some basic care tips: ■ Vehicles should be started and allowed to idle for 10-15 minutes at least once every two weeks to ensure the battery does not go flat. ■ Moving the vehicle back and forth will prevent brakes from sticking and prevent tyres from forming flat spots. ■ Bird droppings and other contaminants should be cleaned off the body and wheels to prevent damage to paint finish. ■ When driving the vehicle for the first time, tyre pressures should be checked along with fluid levels. Most sites continue to offer some aftersales services, although routine servicing or non-essential repairs are being delayed to free up work- shops in case they are needed to support key workers or the emer- gency services. Corrine Barton, UK head of networks at Arval, said: There has been a massive and quite sudden demand for fleets to be operational around the clock in response to the crisis, and this has created substan- tial new service and maintenance requirements. Leasing companies, manufac- turers and dealers say they are working to meet the needs of large fleets where possible. Sue Robinson, director of the National Franchised Dealers Asso- ciation (NFDA), said: Aftersales workshops and their technicians will play an important role in ensuring that critical vehicles can continue to operate safely and efficiently during these challenging times. TrustFord, part of the Ford Retail Group, is the UKs largest Ford dealer group. It continues to provide >50% Percentage of Jaguar Land Rovers service network operating to provide essential maintenance and repair services ADVICE FOR MAINTAINING IDLE VEHICLESfleetnews.co.uk ■ April 23 2020 Home delivery poses threat to fleet safety Firms that recruit many more drivers are being urged to be mindful of not cutting corners By Matt de Prez leet operators face new safety risks as busi- nesses rapidly expand home delivery services with additional vehicles and drivers. Demand has increased as retail stores have been forced to close due to the coronavirus lockdown and high-risk individuals are unable to leave their homes. David Jink, head of consumer research at Parcelhero, said: Its thought the current rise in demand for home deliveries has eclipsed even the Christmas peak period, and thats something our industry plans all year for. With mere weeks of warning, the UKs couriers and retailers have had to ramp up services to an unprece- dented degree. Supermarket giant Tesco has added more than 200 new vans to its home delivery fleet and hired another 2,500 drivers and 5,000 store pickers to help handle increased demand. Rival Morrisons has announced plans to create 3,500 jobs to help expand home deliveries to get groceries to vulnerable people. It is estimated that demand for home delivery has increased by 100%, placing significant strain on supply chains. Carl Moore, chief operations officer at Yodel, said: We have been doing everything we can to keep the country moving. Demand has increased for essential products and we are working closely with other parcel carriers to uphold best prac- tice across the logistics sector. Delivery companies must contend with new safety requirements to prevent the spread of the virus, as their drivers make much-needed deliveries often coming face-to- face with members of the public. GMB London, the union for staff in the parcel delivery sector, says of particular concern is the necessity to operate in accordance with strict social distancing requirements and how this impacts on the normal delivery times and rates plus the need for sanitiser, hand-washing facilities and personal protective equipment (PPE). Some stores, including Waitrose, announced they would continue to deliver to households in quarantine, but new protocols needed to be established. Initially, companies adopted slightly different approaches to doorstep delivery. For a few days, some parcels were being dropped without any record kept of proof of delivery. New protocols were swiftly put in place and there are now broadly agreed procedures. Today, drivers keep a two-metre distance and will confirm proof of delivery themselves once the package has been accepted: they may even take a photo of premises as proof. To avoid contact entirely, weve been advising receivers its best practice to let all delivery services know a convenient area such as a porch where parcels can be left safely, Jink said. Michael Holt, executive chairman of Tuffnells, said the whole supply chain is facing an unprecedented challenge and businesses like Tuffnells are rapidly hiring more staff to cope with demand. Its been an extremely difficult period for us all no matter where you are or what you do for work. The sheer rise in demand for goods in recent weeks means we are working hard to deliver the supplies busi- nesses and customers need to operate as best they can considering the circumstances, he said. Conditions are changing daily in the delivery industry. The hours truck drivers are permitted to work have been relaxed, and night-time delivery curfews have been suspended. Red Driver Training is urging fleets not to prioritise getting new drivers on the road ahead of safety and their legal duty of care to any employee who drives on company business. Now is not the time for busi- nesses to cut corners, Ian McIntosh, CEO of Red Driving School, warned. Customer service teams are under more pressure than ever, but that is no excuse for employers to send untrained drivers on to the road and neglect their duty of care. A comprehensive fleet driver training programme is vital to ensure drivers are safe and effi- cient, he added. Studies show that drivers are more likely to break the speed limit and take risks due to time pressures. Notwithstanding a pandemic, there are two common practices in the industry referred to as job and finish and payment by customer contact, said Lisa Dorn, research director at DriverMetrics These practices can encourage drivers to exceed speed limits, by reinforcing drivers to complete more deliveries in a certain timeframe either because they want to finish work early or because they want the financial reward of making fast and frequent deliveries. She said it is crucial employers set reasonable work schedules that do not require drivers to exceed recom- mended working limits and drivers hours. POOR PRACTICES ENCOURAGE DRIVERS TO EXCEED SPEED LIMITS LISA DORN, DRIVERMETRICS NEWS: HEALTH AND SAFETY F 9adRocketVehicle tracking that works for you No auto-renewal | Free mobile app | 1st class customer service Find out just how much you can save with Quartix Visit quartix.net or call 01686 807 607 to schedule a free demo adRocketFP_FLEETNEW_4012342id3971307.pdf 15.07.2019 11:40 11fleetnews.co.uk ■ April 23 2020 Free2Move Lease looks to mobility market as all services roll together Business aims to keep evolving with three-year plan to double its size By Sarah Tooze ree2Move Lease has brought its leasing, car sharing, rental and telematics offerings together in a central department, made up of more than 50 employees, as it looks to tap into the mobility market. We want to be able to offer mobility to all customers wherever they are, said Alison Jones, group managing director of Peugeot, Citroën and DS in the UK for PSA Group, which owns Free2Move Lease. Thats a key emerging area to be able to do that. They are complementary services for customers; quite often with car share you need telematics in those vehicles to be able to track where they are so it makes it more effective to put them into one team. Fleet customers have long bene- fited from telematics as standard in Citroën vans but the offering has since been widened with the launch of Free2Move Leases Connect Fleet product in 2018. This means data such as main- tenance alerts, fluid levels and speed is taken direct from Peugeot, Citroën and DS vehicles, enabling a proactive approach to maintenance and mileage management. Customers can also choose to have a telematics box fitted to non-PSA vehicles. Three packages are available: fleet management (vehicle tracking, fuel consumption, mechanical alerts in real time, and service and mainte- nance alerts), eco driving (this adds driving behaviour analysis and customised eco-driving advice to the driver) or geolocation (this adds real time geolocation, itinerary and route tracking and analysis, and customis- able geofencing alerts). Weve widened the opportunity of what can be done because some people want different functionality, Jones said. We keep evolving to see what can be included and the new team will look at all areas of connected services. Jones is also learning which mobility options work in other coun- tries where PSA operates. For instance, Free2Move has a car sharing service in Washington DC, which allows customers to rent a car from 30 minutes to seven days using an app. Cars are parked on the streets of Washington and can be returned within the home area for the next user. The UK is on the list as one of the countries that would introduce it but we would take the learning from what theyre doing in the other markets and how you get the busi- ness model to work for customers then us as a business, Jones said. Citroens electric city car, Ami, which is being offered in Europe on a long-term rental costing £17 per month with a £2,186 deposit or via car sharing at a cost of 21p per minute (see Fleetnews.co.uk, February 28), could also provide valuable learnings. Jones said that PSA has not committed to Ami coming to the UK but it depends what customers want. You have to test these things in different places and see, she said. CONTRACT HIRE FOR VAUXHALL SET TO GROW BUSINESS Free2Move Leases growth in the short-term is set to come from Vauxhall, after it became the in-house provider of business contract hire for Vauxhall and its retailer network last year. Vauxhall previously white labelled ALD Automotives finance products to offer to fleet customers, although there was period of about two years between the agreement with ALD ending and Free2Move Lease beginning. The move is set to double the size of the business over a three-year cycle, but this does not take into account any impact the coronavirus lockdown may have on sales. Free2Move Lease is offering customers contract extensions, payment holidays where needed, and helping to ensure critical vehicles keep moving during the lockdown. ■ For more on how the PSA Group is supporting fleet operators who have essential workers, see Fleetnews.co.uk, March 31. WE WANT TO BE ABLE TO OFFER MOBILITY TO ALL CUSTOMERS WHEREVER THEY ARE ALISON JONES, PSA NEWS: MOBILITY F Vauxhall continues to operate as a separate fleet team, despite PSAs acquisition of the brand in 2017 and the Peugeot, Citroen while saw DS fleet teams integrated under fleet director Martin Gurney. We keep our brands quite separate, as do any many others [manufacturers] who have many brands, Alison Jones said. However, on the dealership side, network development and aftersales have been integrated for efficiency and to benefit investors, since Jones was appointed in February last year. The cultural changes which Jones has made, along with her leadership skills, were recently recognised with her being named the Barbara Cox Woman of the Year (see Fleetnews.co.uk March 10). NO IMMEDIATE PLANS TO INTEGRATE FLEET TEAMSWith everything that has happened in recent weeks, the news of the merger between ACFO and ICFM has been slightly overlooked. Weve covered the on-going impact of coronavirus on fleets comprehensively throughout this issue, so I wont dwell on it again here, other than to mention a webinar we ran last week with Driving for Better Business and Fleet Check which was our most watched ever. A whole host of questions were raised, which we are looking to answer over the coming days. Keep an eye on the website for more details. Back to the new Association of Fleet Professionals. Weve long held the opinion that ACFO and ICFM should be one association, as far back as 2010 when they first revealed plans to work together and then again in 2016 when a statement announcing closer links led to representation on each others boards and shared membership initiatives. At the time, in this column, we urged them to consider a full-scale merger, commenting it would strengthen them, pool resources and make the representative voice of the sector much stronger more on a par with the likes of the BVRLA and FTA when lobbying Government. We added: It may take a little time to come to fruition, but dont rule out an amalgamation at some point. Wed certainly back it. And we certainly will back it. We played our own small role in helping to reignite negotiations in late 2018, bringing the two organisations together to discuss common ground and the potential creation of a new trade body, so were already invested in having a strong, relevant and truly representative association. But, the real credit goes to ICFMs Paul Hollick and ACFOs Caroline Sandall and Stewart Lightbody who had the vision and energy to make an ambition a reality. Stay well and safe everyone. THE BIG PICTURE Glenn Ewen wrote: Having read HMRC to publish company car tax guidance (fleetnews.co.uk, April 7), as a fleet manager, the thought of having cars all over the country, with the keys in one location, for an unspecified period of time, and with no one responsible for them, fills me with dread. The safety and security issues are endless (to suggesting a company car would be considered unavailable by sending the keys back to the employer). The minute that the lockdown is ended, every one of those drivers is going to want their car back on the road, having taken absolutely no interest in it for the previous months, and theyll expect it to start first time. The simple solution would be to allow a certain weekly mileage to ensure the vehicle is kept roadworthy, and the battery charged, and reducing the benefit-in- kind (BIK) accordingly to reflect that. If they can pay a huge swathe of the country while they are furloughed, they can come up with a simple solution to keep the driver involved in the upkeep of the vehicle, and have the ability to go straight back to work, without swamping the breakdown services on the first day back. Coronavirus HMRC advice fills me with dread BENEFIT-IN-KIND TAX Keith Wall wrote: I think company car drivers tend to be more affluent than many and should not expect a reduction in BIK during the crisis. Everyone else has to continue to bear vehicle costs and the Government is not there to finance every small loss, but to shield us from catastrophe. Try looking out and not in, dont behave like a professional footballer. Sage and Onion replied: I cant agree. You might find that the less affluent company car drivers on the lower rungs of company car choice lists pay higher BIK tax for their diesel rep-mobile than executive company car drivers higher up the ladder and they get much less private use, too. People with cars on private finance agreements can ask for payment holidays etc. so why shouldnt the same relief apply to company car drivers? Were all in this together remember. THE EDITORS PICK WINS A £20 JOHN LEWIS VOUCHER HAVE Y EDITORS PICK April 23 2020 ■ fleetnews.co.uk Stephen Briers, editor-in-chief, Fleet NewsFears for used car demand Devon Guy wrote: Having read Used car values slide (fleetnews.co.uk, March 27), sadly, over the coming months and years, the economy is going to look radically different, with a global recession and high unemployment levels looking a real possibility. Having read Congestion charge and ULEZ suspended (fleetnews.co.uk, March 23), I understand that the ULEZ has been suspended for now. However, will the date planned to extend as far as the South and North Circulars also be pushed back? How can those with cars that do not satisfy the new regulations sell them in order to buy newer models? RESIDUAL VALUES Expansion should be delayed Greg wrote: Having read Reducing speed limit to 20mph could lower NHS burden (fleetnews.co.uk, April 9), reducing the speed of impact, particularly with pedestrians, is very important. The best way to do this, however, would be to enforce the current speed limits and for drivers to stick to them. Enforce existing speed limits LINKEDIN UK fleet managers group TWITTER twitter.com/_FleetNews EMAIL fleetnews@bauermedia.co.uk COMMENT ONLINE fleetnews.co.uk E YOUR SAY ROAD SAFETY 13fleetnews.co.uk ■ April 23 2020 Fleet News is published 15 times a year. Bauer Consumer Media Ltd is a company registered in England and Wales with company number 01176085, registered address Media House, Peterborough Business Park, Lynchwood, Peterborough, PE2 6EA. VAT no 918 5617 01. H Bauer Publishing and Bauer Consumer Media Ltd are authorised and regulated by the FCA (Ref No. 845898) and (Ref No. 710067). No part of the magazine may be reproduced in any form in whole or in part, without prior permission of the publisher. All material published remains the copyright of Bauer Consumer Media Ltd. 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Whilst every reasonable care is taken to ensure accuracy, the publisher is not responsible for any errors or omissions nor do we accept any liability for any loss or damage, howsoever caused, resulting from the use of the magazine. ISSN 0953-8526. Printing: PCP, Telford Fleet News, Media House, Lynch Wood, Peterborough, PE2 6EA. Email fleetnews@bauermedia.co.uk Burning question: Name a positive of being in lockdown EDITORIAL Editor-in-chief Stephen Briers 01733 468024 stephen.briers@bauermedia.co.uk Better quality coffee at home Deputy editor Sarah Tooze On parental leave News editor Gareth Roberts 01733 468314 gareth.roberts@bauermedia.co.uk Im saving money by not buying coffee Features editor Andrew Ryan 01733 468308 andrew.ryan@bauermedia.co.uk Out of office arent we all? Head of digital Jeremy Bennett 01733 468655 jeremy.bennett@bauermedia.co.uk My commute has gone from 30 miles to 0 miles, saving a small fortune in fuel costs. 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Issue price £6 Europe and Eire: annual £135 / two years £230 / three years £315 Therefore, we are going to see both the new and used car markets face low demand and chronic over-supply, which means much reduced forecourt prices. I have a friend that runs a small used car business. He used to offer cash for cars, maybe getting three calls a week, pre the virus. Hes now averaging 30-40 calls every week from desperate owners wanting to offload their cars because they have already lost their jobs.DIGITAL ONLY 14April 23 2020 ■ fleetnews.co.uk Due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic which has resulted in as much as 75% of the Fleet News readership now working from home (see survey on page 4), we have taken the decision to temporarily stop printing Fleet News from May and instead produce the magazine in a digital e-zine format. We recognise that all businesses have big decisions to make to protect their futures and the livelihoods of their employees. Car, van and truck manufacturers have switched off production, other companies have furloughed staff, some are fighting for their very survival. Consequently, we have seen a reduction in advertising as a number of companies pull back expenditure. However, Fleet News continues to benefit from the support of several fleet suppliers and we would like to pay special thanks to the following for maintaining their investment in the magazine: The AA, Chevin, Geotab, Mercedes-Benz Trucks, Quartix and Zenith. Turning off print for our May, June, July and August issues creates a number of opportunities: we are no longer restricted in the number of pages FleetNews we produce, and we can widen our audience beyond our usual 18,700 print-run. One thing that wont change is our commitment to provide you with insightful, well-researched, useful and comprehensive news, interviews, profiles and features. Remote working and cancelled events, such as our own Company Car In Action and Fleet200 quarterly meetings, make relationships and building contacts and knowledge more difficult. At Fleet News, we will continue to offer a way to connect the fleet sector, through our digital magazine, our website, our daily newsletters and our webinars. Our digital magazine will be made available to everyone so you can access it from the comfort of your home. This page-turner e-zine publication will be sent out at the same time as youd normally expect to receive the printed magazine, plus you can access it via the Fleet News website https://www.fleetnews.co.uk/digital-issue/ We will also be introducing a monthly editors letter video which will be distributed via our newsletter to give you an insight into the latest issue of Fleet News and our thoughts about the challenges facing fleets. And you can stay up-to-date with all the latest news at Fleetnews.co.uk where our coronavirus hub will keep you informed daily with all the news and information to help your business and your employees to get through the current crisis. But the most important thing, that we wish for all our readers and commercial partners, is stay safe. goes FROM MAY15fleetnews.co.uk ■ April 23 2020 Our digital magazine will be made available to everyone so you can access it from the comfort of your home. This page-turner e-zine publication will be sent out at the same time as youd normally expect to receive the printed magazine, plus you can access it via the Fleet News website fleetnews.co.uk/digital-issue Fleet News is merging the Commercial Fleet Awards with the Fleet News Awards to create an unparalleled awards evening that honours and recognises excellence across every part of the fleet sector. With the industry in turmoil due to the coronavirus pandemic and very little time for compiling award entries to reflect innovation and best practice, Fleet News had a chance to review its awards proposition for 2021. Despite the ongoing success of the Commercial Fleet Awards, particularly with its new home at Fleet & Mobility Live, we believe bringing together our two awards programmes will boost their appeal to a wider audience of fleets, suppliers and manufacturers, said Stephen Briers, Fleet News editor-in-chief. The move mirrors the decision to bring Commercial Fleet magazine into the pages of Fleet News at the start of 2019. This reflected the fact that the majority of the fleet reader- ship is running a mixture of cars, vans and trucks. Many issues facing companies are relevant irrespective of the type of vehicles they run, and many of the solutions can be shared across their operations. Fleet News now puts the spotlight more directly on the business of moving people, goods and services around. Bringing together the Commercial Fleet Awards and the Fleet News Awards is a continuation of that journey, one which has also seen the introduction of more van and truck content into Fleet & Mobility Live (see page 28). Fleet News Awards 2021, incorporating Commercial Fleet Awards, will offer a unique opportunity for Fleet News to bring together the entire fleet sector to celebrate and honour the best people, companies and vehicles. It is set to become the biggest night in fleet. We believe this is the right move. It enables us to cele- brate and honour the entire fleet sector, just as we provide insight and analysis for every part of fleet in Fleet News and deliver content for all at Fleet & Mobility Live, said Briers. Further details about awards categories, judges and auditing will be released in September when Fleet News officially launches the Fleet News Awards 2021. FLEET NEWS AWARDS HONOURING THE ENTIRE INDUSTRY16April 23 2020 ■ fleetnews.co.uk TOMORROWS FLEET: THE HUMANDRIVE PROJECT hile the technology being used in autonomous vehicle prototypes is already staggering, there are plenty of obstacles still to overcome before they are in regular use on public roads. These include regulation, cybersecurity and trust in the technology from the people who will ultimately use the vehicles. These were all areas looked at by the Nissan Europe-led consortium HumanDrive, which concluded with the Grand Drive a successful 230-mile self-navigated journey on UK roads. The project also included a test track-based activity which explored human-like driving using machine learning to enhance the user experience. Fleet News takes an in-depth look at the findings of the project and what they mean. THE PROJECT Since 2017, Nissans R&D team, based at the Nissan Technical Centre Europe in Cranfield, has led the HumanDrive project, a £13.5 million research initiative involving nine other partners (see panel, page 17) and backed by the UK Government. The project had six key objectives, says David Moss, senior vice-president for research and The Nissan-led HumanDrive project investigated the real-world demands on self-driving vehicles, culminating in a 230-mile journey on UK roads. Andrew Ryan reports W On the road to autonomous driving development in Europe at Nissan Europe: ➊ Create an autonomous vehicle. ➋ Explore artificial intelligence (AI) and machine- learning. ➌ Perform a long-distance demonstration. ➍ Develop testing, validation and safety methods. ➎ Investigate cyber security. ➏ Understand how autonomous vehicles interact with the transport infrastructure. However, the overriding aim was for the HumanDrive car to travel in a way that was comfortable, natural and ultimately trustworthy for the user, says Professor Natasha Merat, chairman in human factors of transport systems at consortium member the University of Leeds. Integrating human-like controllers in automated vehicles will provide a smoother, more comfortable experience for drivers and our algorithm development is trying to achieve this, along with an understanding of what people want from an automated driving experience, she adds. Establishing trust by users in autonomous vehicles is key, says Moss. We need to make sure the technology that comes in is not only useful for people, but that people will use it, he adds. That is why we spent a lot of time trying to understand how we can develop the vehicle so that it didnt drive in a robotic fashion, and we could understand how to give it a real, human-like feel so customers will feel really confident and safe with the technology. HUMANDRIVE AND MACHINE LEARNING Part of the HumanDrive project looked at how machine-learning AI technologies could enhance the user experience and passenger comfort of connected and autonomous vehicles. The projects pilot vehicles were tested on private tracks and incorporated AI systems developed by consortium member Hitachi Europe to enable real-time machine-learning. These built a dataset of previously encountered traffic scenarios and solutions, and used this learned experience to understand how to handle similar scenarios in future in order that a safe route could be plotted around an obstacle. These technologies were subjected to a robust testing process and developed using a range of facilities, including simulators and private test tracks. One way in which machine learning will help an autonomous vehicle be more human-like is in 17fleetnews.co.uk ■ April 23 2020 its road positioning. For example, if you programme an autonomous vehicle without machine learning, the way they will potentially handle a roundabout is to go an equal distance around the outside of it, says Peter Stephens, head of UK external and government affairs at Nissan. No human drives that way, they usually cut across the roundabout, so part of the aim of the project was to teach vehicles to drive autonomously following a more natural road line. One reason was to improve the driving experience, making it smoother, and secondly it was to increase the predictability for other road users being able to read where the vehicle is positioned on the road, and therefore what the drivers intention is. Moss adds: The only way we could do that is by doing a lot of research about understanding how people drive actual cars on roads and test track, but then also supporting that with the simulation environment. We combined a lot of information from driver simulation at Leeds University to the actual measurements that we made on the roads around us. WE NEED TO MAKE SURE THE TECHNOLOGY THAT COMES IN IS NOT ONLY USEFUL FOR PEOPLE, BUT THAT PEOPLE WILL USE IT DAVID MOSS, NISSAN Sponsored by David Morris, Channel Manager, Goodyear Tyres UK Limited For any fleet there are a few items at the top of the list when it comes to tyre management hassle-free and sustainability being up there together with lower cost of ownership and safety. Every year, traditionally at the Geneva Motor Show, Goodyear shows its vision of the future of mobility, and even without the show taking place this year, Goodyear still managed to release its vision of the tyre of the future the Goodyear reCharge. The reCharge is a revolutionary self- regenerating concept tyre that can adapt and change to meet individual needs. The concept includes a number of innovative features that are built around three pillars: Personalised: At the core of the reCharge concept is a reloadable and biodegradable tread compound that can be recharged with individual capsules, radically simplifying the process of replacing your tyres. Filled with a customised liquid compound, these capsules allow the tread to regenerate and the tyre to adapt over time to climatic circumstances, road conditions, or simply how you want to travel. Thanks to artificial intelligence, a driver profile would be created, around which the liquid compound would be customised, generating a compound blend tailored to each individual. Sustainable: The compound itself would be made from a biological material and would be reinforced with fibres inspired by spider silk. This would make it both extremely durable and biodegradable. Hassle-Free: The tread would be supported by a lightweight, non-pneumatic frame and tall-and-narrow shape. This is a thin, robust low-maintenance construction that would eliminate the need for pressure maintenance or downtime related to punctures. Goodyear wants the tyre to be an even more powerful contributor to answering specific needs, including for fleets. It was with that in mind that we set out to create a concept tyre primed for the future of sustainable and convenient electric mobility. SPONSORS COMMENTNext >