We’ve heard about the driverless car. Many of the first round of issues and opportunities have come to light. To many the promise of readily available autonomous vehicles means nothing more than a slightly more relaxed commute. But could radical changes in mobility have far greater implications?
At this year’s AutoMobility LA Ford CEO Mark Fields said, “We are on the cusp of a mobility revolution. While we will continue to make great vehicles, they are no longer our entire game.” Which begs the question, what is the entire game?
Smart Mobility
Big players are looking, and investing, heavily in new technologies that could disrupt mobility. Ford recently acquired Chariot, a San Francisco-based on-demand shuttle service that promises, “mass transit reinvented.” The service is app-based, using sophisticated technology to connect commuters and businesses with their service.
Taking this concept a step further is the Uber-owned Otto, a self-driving vehicle designed exclusively for material transport. The service, which was purchased by Uber for around $680 million, made its first commercial delivery recently in Fort Collins–50,000 cans of Budweiser. The company plans to partner with the state of Ohio to create a 35-mile stretch of “smart mobility corridor” in Central Ohio. The Department of Transportation will install an additional lane equipped with fiber optic cables and advanced sensors to collect data.
Urban Partnerships
“No tech has shaped cities more than cars in the last 100 years,” said former New York mayor and billionaire philanthropist Michael Bloomberg. His organization Bloomberg Philanthropies has partnered with the Aspen Institute to help prepare cities for autonomous vehicles. “The real innovation potential here is not just for new kinds of cars, but new kinds of communities,” said Walter Isaacson, president and CEO of the Aspen Institute. Mr. Issacson’s viewpoint suggests a belief that this technology could have far-reaching implications creating new communities and addressing urban planning and inequality issues in major cities.
Volkswagen is also investing in urban partnerships with the creation of Moia, a Berlin-based company focused on becoming, “one of the global top players for mobility services in the medium term,” according to their CEO Ole Harms. The company has stated, “saving cities means saving the world.” Far-reaching indeed!
Spanish car maker SEAT has it’s own partnership as well with the city of Barcelona. “Barcelona is the best city for researching new mobility solutions in the context of smart cities for its size, industrial network and the presence of startups that foster innovation. Our goal is to become a frontrunner company in connectivity,” said their president Luca de Meo.
Tech Partnerships & Emotional Connections
Many are asking what does the future of mobility look like, but what does it feel like? Honda has an idea with the NeuV concept, an autonomous EV commuter with an “emotion engine” fueled by artificial intelligence. In collaboration with Cocoro SB they aim to, “enable mobility products to utilize conversations with the driver, together with other information obtained from various sensors and cameras installed on the mobility product, both to perceive the emotions of the driver and to engage in dialogue with the driver based on the vehicle’s own emotions.”
Will emotional connections be a key part of the future of mobility? And how else might technology disrupt the industry? How will the insurance industry adapt to changes in car ownership? Insurance-sharing? What does this mean for urban planning–will parking structures be a thing of the past?
