Mobility is facing its second inflexion point
- By Simon Enstone
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- 17 Jul, 2019
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Mobility is facing it’s second inflexion point, the first being the transition from the horse to the automobile. This second inflexion is characterised by a shift towards electrification, autonomy, connectivity and new forms of ownership. The car used to be powered by an internal combustion engine and owned – this will no longer be true.
Changes to vehicle powertrains are largely being driven by emissions regulations, and not by customer demand. However, arguably the current pace of legislation including CO2limits, diesel vehicle bans and low emission zones, is still not aggressive enough to reach the ambitions of the Paris Agreement
The rapid development of autonomous vehicle technologies requires enormous quantities of data to be gathered regarding vehicle use but raises significant questions with regards to the utilisation of this data. Legal issues such as consumer consent for data to be gathered need to be carefully considered.
Connected vehicles offer potential benefits in terms of prognostics, predictive maintenance, and over-the-air updates. However, there is a need to educate consumers about the data that is available to be collected and why. The auto industry needs to learn from the Google/Facebook/WhatsApp experience. How much data are we really prepared to share? Transparency regarding what data is being collected and why will be critical. Traffic/safety related data may be OK, whilst advertising driven data may be unacceptable for some customers.
Car ownership models will change. 98% of consumers believe that they own their car, when in reality due to 90% PCP/PCH rates the car is actually owned by the finance company. The real issue is therefore exclusive access, not ownership.
These changes facing the industry are a source of massive disruption. Long-established OEMs are increasingly under threat from global technology giants. It is not as simple as a fork in the road for the industry – more a case of a labyrinth to be navigated with caution