The Links They Are A-Changin'

There has been a re-organization of some of the links on Employee Self Service this month with a couple of Fleet related links now in a different location. The Fleet Services Requisition link and Vehicle Accident Report are now in the “Parking & Travel Section” of Self Service. The requisition is under the “Travel” heading and the accident report is under the “Parking & Transportation” heading. If you previously had either of the links starred and saved in your favorites they should still appear there even though they moved.

Pro Tip - New Fleet Services Requisition

Pro-Tip #3 – Non-University Drivers

If you need to add a non-student volunteer with no University affiliation as a driver to a requisition they will need to have an assignment in Risk Management’s Driver License Review System first, then, the next day, they will appear in the search tool to choose as a driver. Once the DLRS assignment is created you can search in the driver search tool by the drivers full first and last name, they should show up, and then you can add them to the requisition.

Welcome to Roxie

We have a new Service Writer in our shop, her name is Roxie! Her responsibilities include customer service, ordering parts for our technicians, maintaining our shop parts inventory, and she will probably be the person you talk to when you contact our shop. Roxie previously worked at the Hygienic lab and we are happy to have her join our team.

What is the EV ‘80% rule'?

The 80% rule is the idea that most of the time it is best to only charge your electric vehicle to 80%. The two main reasons for doing this are for charge time efficiency and for the long-term health of your vehicle's battery pack. Most folks that daily drive EVs do not need the full range so this 80% rule is something to consider.

Efficiency- If you're on a long-distance drive in an EV, understanding the 80% rule will maximize your use of time. Battery charging time is non-linear, the fuller it gets, the slower it charges, with charging slowing down greatly past the 80% point. If your EV has 300 miles of range at full charge, that means it can go about 240 miles with an 80% charge. If the 0-to-80% charge time is 40 minutes you can be back on the road in a little more than half an hour. To fully charge the battery it could take an extra 90 minutes to go from 80 to 100%. You can see how in this case it wouldn’t be a very efficient use of time to wait an extra 50 minutes for only 60 additional miles of range.

Longevity- Charging to 80% also helps with battery longevity, put simply, over time batteries don't like to be full. It is kind of counterintuitive but keeping a battery full to the brim will actually decrease the maximum kilowatt-hours it can hold faster than it would otherwise.

Keep the Screen Clean

A good percentage of our vehicles now have some sort of touch screen for infotainment. With use over time fingerprints, oil, and other gunk will start to accumulate. So what is the best way to clean a touchscreen? Ideally you want to use microfiber cloth and avoid using paper towels or cotton rags. Many vehicles come with a cloth for this very purpose. Check Owner’s Manual, in the glove box; there might already be one there for you to use. Also, avoid using cleaners or chemical solvents so you don’t accidentally damage the screen. If the screen is really dirty dampen your microfiber cloth with a little bit of warm water.

Honest Mike’s Used Cars

Currently listed for auction on GovDeals:

• 2016 Chevy Colorado 4WD – white with only 42k miles
• Two 2018 Dodge Grand Caravans – silver with 90k miles and dark gray with 91k miles
• 2017 Ford Fusion Hybrid – gold with 83k miles
• 2017 Chevy Malibu – black  with 83k miles

These all end on 8/30 but there are many more to come!

Fleet Factoid

A single blink from a racing driver could mean a loss of vision for as much as 65 feet. For this reason racing drivers teach themselves not to blink when they are changing speed or direction, and will instead save their blinks for simpler sections of the track, like a straightaway. Read the full article from Jalopnik.