The Personal Mobility Revolution Has Arrived!
The role of the automobile and its place in daily life is drastically changing, and with that comes a new set of realities and opportunities.
A key aspect of Automotive Plastics’ Roadmap to Future Mobility is personal mobility; and a broad range of social, political, and economic factors are greatly changing the standards, expectations, and needs in this area. Specifically, the personal mobility revolution is calling for automakers to very quickly invent mobility solutions suited to an autonomous, connected, electrified, and sustainable automotive future… and this requires new material solutions. Plastics and polymer composites are poised to play an essential role.
Here are a few of the technological, cultural, and economic megatrends converging to reshape “personal mobility” as we know it:
- Just as cellphones became computers around 2007, vehicles are now rapidly evolving into computers on wheels! Plastics can transform an autonomous vehicle into a global extension of personal identity, making us more connected than ever before!
- According to the US Census, a whopping 80% of Americans now live in urban areas. In these heavily populated communities, fully autonomous vehicles hold the promise of drastically reducing crashes. Carmakers will need plastics for all the new cameras, radar, LIDAR, and sensors on these self-driving vehicles.
- It is expected that as many as 1 in 5 cars sold in the US and EU will be part of a subscription service by 2025! Fractional ownership and ridesharing are becoming increasingly popular each and every year, and plastics help make this possible.
A few of the other megatrends influencing the personal mobility revolution we’re experiencing include:
- Improved battery technology
- Proliferation of Artificial Intelligence
- Implementation of Fuel Economy Standards, encouraging lightweighting
- Growing global environmental concerns
- Modernizations of regulations and standards to enable self-driving cars
- Rise in automotive-buying populations in growing economies
Radical change is happening, and plastics are rising to meet the associated challenges and opportunities!
Get further information on the personal mobility revolution in the updated Roadmap for Future Mobility here.
Go to the Road Ahead blog to read other articles about the latest innovations in automotive plastics and the automotive industry at large.