Fleet Action for Clean Transportation (FACT) was created for the purpose of successfully growing our industry by fostering a dialogue between fleets, suppliers and OEMs with a desired outcome of creating a business model. To do that, we invited all of our fleet members to join a conversation to gather their observations about what is working, what isn’t, and what they need to continue buying alternatively powered vehicles. The Voice of the Customer Workshop (VOC), which all members were invited to attend in Long Beach, CA on May 4, was the mechanism to bring everyone together to have this conversation.

Here are just a few of the high level observations that came out of the meeting.
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•    Fleets are looking for best practices for deployment.  Fleets need assistance in figuring out how to best utilize the technologies.

•    The right technology for the right application is critical or the technology won’t deliver.  

•    Many fleets are looking at reducing platform size of trucks to save costs.  They want to see advantages from the hybrid drivetrain.  Weight reduction is needed and that requires further design work.

•    The hybrid vehicle costs are still way too high.  

•    There are currently too few hybrid system suppliers with direct OEM production lines.   

•    Fleets want better integration of hybrid systems into the vehicle or chassis by the OEM.  

•    End users want accurate fuel economy estimates.

•    Engine off at idle capabilities are needed.

Want to learn more?  A white paper summarizing the outcomes of the VOC meeting is exclusively for access by members at CALSTART.org.  A continuation of this meeting for members as well as a broader industry audience will be held at the 2011 Hybrid Truck Users Forum National Conference in Baltimore, MD.  Details to follow.

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