Lukas Neckermann on the mobility (r)evolution

Over the last ten years, we've seen how the mobility revolution is taking shape. It is driven by sustainability, efficiency, digitalization, urbanization, and, frankly, changes in how we live and work. Our goods and passenger transportation modes have become electrified, more automated, and some even shared.

When I wrote The Mobility Revolution a decade ago, there were very few electric vehicles available on the market. Today, there are hundreds of models. The majority of new vehicle sales in Europe are now fully electric, plug-in hybrid, or hybrid vehicles – in other words, electrified. The trend will continue to increase as more choices come to market. In an otherwise mostly stagnant automotive market, electrified vehicles are a significant growth opportunity.

It’s not just about cars – vans, buses, trucks, boats, and hopefully, someday soon, airplanes will become electrified, driving down transport emissions across the entire value chain of logistics and passenger transport. Beyond that, strict regulation means that our roads are becoming safer. Today's vehicles have a full suite of driving assistance systems, many unimaginable just a decade ago. And if we look further ahead, fully autonomous mobility is already making its mark. Every month, over one million fully driverless passenger trips are being conducted on the streets in the US and China.

If we look at our ports, airports, campuses, and warehouses, there's a lot of automation there, too. So, whether it's passengers or cargo, autonomous mobility is becoming cleaner, safer, more efficient, and more available. Finally, we're seeing so many more new options emerge to move people and goods around. E-scooters, e-bikes, cargo bikes, ride-sharing, car-sharing, ride-pooling, ride-hailing, and even drones are being used for delivery – with services now available at the tap of an app.

We’ve also seen a major shift in mindset over the last decade. The rise in remote work and delivery services has allowed people to re-evaluate their mobility choices. For some, this even enables them to give up their privately owned cars. Which in turn represents a seismic shift, not just for the automobility industry, but for countless other industries as well.

For example, self-driving transport is a game changer for insurance, logistics, leasing, and supply chains. Similarly, electrification in automotive transforms both energy companies and infrastructure providers – and brings them closer to automotive. And none of this could happen without a new set of players gaining relevance: the tech providers and the data backbones that help make it all possible.

When smartphone companies start building cars and search engine firms provide driverless transport, and even farm equipment is fully automated, well, you know, it's a new day.

Our lifestyles, infrastructure, and mobility choices are changing – and being changed. In our most densely populated urban areas, we're seeing car use being restricted, whether through congestion charging or, in some cases, outright city entry bans. Residents are turning to active mobility. 

Pedestrians, bicycles, and scooters have more space to roam, making cities and suburbs more livable, sustainable, and efficient. Simply put, a bicycle takes less space than a car, and a bus can fit lots more people. An autonomous shuttle needs little or no parking.

Automation and shared mobility are enabling more inclusion as well. The young, the old, the infirm, and the visually and physically impaired have new options for getting around. This is, of course, socially desirable, but it also drives economic growth as more people can participate in mobility.

However, while this human-centric design and mobility revolution contributes to greater sustainability and quality of life in cities, it also means that services and deliveries need to become more creative.

The key to transforming successfully is partnership. Partnerships between public and private firms, partnerships between companies and governments, and, frankly, partnerships where each party can focus on what it does best so that each can deliver on their promises to a changing customer.

Partnerships can also spark new business models in the mobility revolution. Note the development of charging mobility services, automated and drone deliveries, multimodal transportation platforms, and countless new brands being built in logistics and passenger transport. Future mobility investors have significant opportunities here. Companies that were startups a decade ago are now the valuable mobility companies and tech companies are the most valuable suppliers in automotive.