Automotive, the Future of Mobility

Abstract

Will the Automotive era come to an end in the 21th century? Looking at today’s environmental and economic challenges of the use of cars based on last century technology and listening to some trend watchers one could think so. Cars can be regarded, as an old school status product indeed, for which there is no use, no place, no money and no interest in our modern society. On de other hand, auto-mobility is still growing, both in developed as in developing countries. The current worldwide road travel by motorbikes, cars, trucks and busses will probably double to 80 trillion kilometers in 2050. Facing comparable mobility growth in the Dutch Port City areas of Rotterdam, this paper describes the research of the Rotterdam University of Applied Science, following developments in automotive and providing first living lab experiments. In our vision, the traditional automotive values ‘individual freedom and flexibility’ and using new disruptive technologies, the automobile will very likely consolidate its position as preferred choice for mobility of persons and goods during the 21th century. To achieve that the sustainable disruptions: Electrification, Automation and Connectivity (sharing) must be adopted. Meanwhile one should focus on tempting goals, the Six Zero’s; Zero Emission, Zero Energy, Zero Congestion, Zero Accident, Zero Empty and Zero Cost. These goals will guide us towards a new economy, sustainable ecology and more efficient use of time.