Zubie, a vehicle tech vendor for rental and commercial fleets, recently accepted the Gold Stevie Award in the Technology Excellence category for “New Service of the Year,” which recognizes its onboard rental car smoke detectors.

The Stevie Awards celebrate outstanding performance in the workplace worldwide. It represents the highest honor in its category, for which Zubie was selected among a competitive field of nominees.

A Breakthrough Solution for Rental Car Operators

Designed specifically for rental car operators, Zubie Smoke Detection delivers real-time alerts, detailed incident reports, and tangible evidence of in-vehicle smoking. Installed in just 15 minutes per vehicle, the system leverages Bosch’s RideCare hardware, fully integrated into the Zubie platform.

Key features include:

• Smoke detection with alerts when smoking occurs, and reports that include total smoke detected, background air quality, and duration of smoking.

• GPS tracking

• Geofencing

• Trip reporting 

• Mileage monitoring

Together, these features give rental car companies more control over fleet conditions, help enforce smoking policies, defend against customer disputes, and aid in recovering lost revenue from cleaning costs and fleet downtime.

Zubie’s collaboration with Bosch merges their expertise in sensor technology with Zubie’s strengths in real-time vehicle monitoring and reporting, as well as rental-industry workflows.

What This Means for Customers

For rental fleet operators, Smoke Detection means:

• Fewer interior refurbishment costs and less downtime from cleaning out smoke odor and damage.

• Lower risk of disputes with renters over smoking fees, thanks to timestamped, detailed incident reports. 

• A mechanism to impose smoking fees with confidence.

• Better customer satisfaction and fleet reputation, as vehicle interiors stay cleaner and are more consistently smoke-free.

Looking Ahead

Zubie is continuing to enhance its platform. Coming soon, customers using Smoke Detection will also be able to detect damage incidents — expanding beyond in-vehicle smoking to enable even more comprehensive monitoring and protection of fleet assets and renter accountability.