The future of mobility

A huge part of being an entrepreneur is getting out in the world and telling people what you’re doing. For me that means I tell people that I’m starting a car company. Of course, I have a whole pitch and talking points depending on who the audience is, but I’m also doing a lot of listening. And there are a LOT of opinions about how transportation will change forever and very soon.

We’re already seeing some immediate signs of technology transforming transportation. We can summon rides with an app, reserve a shared use car, refuel from the sun, and now cars can even drive themselves. And of course, all of these things are very trans-formative, but I’m hearing some very big claims, things like:

• Private ownership of cars will end.
• Driving your own car will be outlawed.
• Gasoline, Diesel, Propane, Natural Gas, Algae, Hydrogen Solar, Coal, Compressed air is the fuel of the future, is the fuel of the past.
• We need to move completely to or away from mass transit.
• Sedans, Trucks, Vans, Busses, Bikes, Motorcycles, City Cars, Golf Carts, Micro Busses, Economy Cars are the future, or will completely go away.

We live in a world where we use phones for almost everything but calling people, our refrigerator can order more milk, more cars are being added to the internet every day than homes, and we can power our cars from the sun. But even with all those changes, there’s one component in the system that stays quite consistent. Us.

Shortly after the wheel was invented, someone put a seat on it so it could hold a human. And that interaction really hasn’t changed. Over millennia the wheel and the vehicle changed drastically, but odds are there’s still a seat. Similarly we have found all manner of methods of moving the wheel, dogs, horses, oxen, external combustion, internal combustion, big engines, small ones, pedals, batteries, all translate into us loving to move without effort.

And we love these vehicles, we obsess over them, customize them, gather together to show them to each other, we revere them, protect them, abuse them, or simply use them. When we find the perfect one, we tell others, when we dislike one, we tell EVERYONE. We’re brand loyal, we stereotype behavior based on the model, and judge others for their vehicle choices. They’re a status symbol, and a class divider.

And we LOVE to drive just for the sake of driving.

But what about the future?

With all of that, I’m going to put on my fortune-teller hat and make a huge prediction about the Future of Mobility:

Vehicles will still have seats, carry humans, and get us to our destinations effortlessly. Oh and the humans will still love them.

Ok, seriously, what’s going to change? Are we going to stop owning cars? Are we going to stop driving? Are we going to start sharing? Are we going to stop burning? Yes, yes, yes, yes, and yes. And so much more. The biggest thing that is going to change about our cars is this:

We are going to change our expectations.

We’re going to expect more. More miles, more room, more seats, more range, more technology, more capabilities, more flexibility, more economy, more power, more control, more automation, more options, more body styles, more unique designs.

I don’t think anything we’re currently doing is going to go away. The people who want shared transportation are going to expect more shared transportation. The people who want more status and luxury, are going to expect status and luxury. The people who want economy will want more economy. The people who want more power, more cargo or bigger tires, are going to expect more power more cargo or bigger tires.

I will add one more prediction:

We’re going to see new classes of vehicles that we never thought possible before. As we transition away from internal combustion, the longitudinal, single motor, restriction will evaporate allowing for new flexibility in vehicle design, passenger location, or simply styling. For the first time in transportation, the shape and utility of the vehicle is no longer defined by what powers it, function no longer defines form.

Whatever the future holds in vehicles, I can’t wait to drive as many of them as I can. I love to drive, don’t you?