How will we move in the future? Key players in the new mobility

We are experiencing unprecedented changes in the world of mobility. Never before in history have so many people travelled so many kilometres in such short periods of time.

This fact is, in some ways, very positive in many respects. The problem is that greater movement (at least with traditional methods) means a greater environmental impact.

On the other hand, we see that technology goes hand in hand with sustainable mobility and there are more and more ways to get around better.

Today, it is clear that people are not going to stop moving, so if we cannot reduce the number of kilometres, then let us readjust the way we move.

And who is leading these changes? Today we tell you the top 3 agents that will be very present in the mobility of the future, both worldwide and in Spain.

Brands and pioneers of mobility worldwide

Tesla

Undoubtedly one of the great revolutionaries of international mobility. The South African-born entrepreneur, Elon Musk, has more than proven his ability to create an electric car concept that is attractive, efficient and desirable for the market.

Tesla has models with over 840 km of range (Model S and X), although the problem remains the same: the shortage of charging points.

What is certain is that the electric car is here to stay, and Tesla has a lot to do with that (and with the rest of the brands now marketing their own fully electric models).

P.S.: We haven't forgotten about Space X and the revolution it could bring to “mobility” with space travel. But we'll talk about that later.

Uber

“Our vision has always been to help people live without cars in cities,” said Rachel Holt, former Vice President and Head of New Mobility at UBER, two years ago.

The American company has amply demonstrated its ability not only to change, but also to improve the passenger transport industry through the use of technology. And with a vision as ambitious as the one Holt declared, it is clear that UBER will have a lot to say about how we get around in the coming years.

In any case, the fact that it operates in more than 85 countries today is proof that the UBER concept works. But are there already people who have given up their private cars thanks to this platform? We don't know that for sure. However, UBER continues to grow year after year, so we shouldn't lose track of it.

Waymo

The most promising bet in autonomous driving. This company from the Alphabet group (BMW), already has millions of kilometres of 100% autonomous driving. In fact, in Arizona, Waymo has already launched its first commercial service, with very good results, by the way.

It is not yet available to the general public, but Waymo is already the leader in “driverless driving”. In fact, they are already working on developing autonomous trucks.

The cultural and legal barriers of this type of project are especially complex, so we shouldn't count on seeing or using this technology in 2021. However, it is a fact that in the future many people will trust autonomous driving as a mobility solution. And everything indicates that Waymo is not going to miss out.

Key players in new ways of getting around in Spain

Within the Spanish landscape, there are also major changes taking place. People no longer move around the same way, and the main reason is that mobility options are now truly extensive.

In any case, here is our top 3 of new mobility projects that we know will be seen a lot in the very near future.

Madrid Mobility 360

This mobile app is undoubtedly the most ambitious and technologically challenging bet made by the municipal transport company EMT. Madrid Mobility 360 is a route planner. That is, you give it point A and point B, and it plans the best mobility option for you.

Put like that, it might seem like Maps already does that, but the truth is it includes truly advanced technology. In a single application you have all the traffic information, public transport occupancy (bus, metro, train, etc.), carbon footprint, parking availability, etc. And, furthermore, it can plan alternative routes based on different criteria you give it.

It is a young project with less than a year on the market, and the truth is it is not delivering the best results (yet). But we are sure this app will give a lot to talk about, and if not this one, any other that approaches mobility with such a holistic perspective.

Bequikly

Bequikly is the brand that is getting dealerships to stop being places where you exclusively buy or repair your car and become advanced “mobility centres”.

It is doing this by providing them with the necessary technology so that cars, motorbikes and vans of any kind can be rented for hours, days or months through a mobile app.

In other words, if you need a specific vehicle for particular occasions, or if you thought carsharing was exclusively for cities, from now on it isn't. Because wherever there is a dealership, there can now be tailor-made mobility. For example, Hyundai, thanks to Bequikly technology, has already implemented rural carsharing throughout Spain.

The great revolution of this technology is its ability to democratise mobility in non-urban populations. This is because finally anyone will be able to have a car and move around freely without needing to buy one outright.

Official College of Technical Telecommunications Engineers (COITT)

The European Commission has already set 2035 as the deadline for the sale of combustion cars, with the aim of reaching, by 2050, an emission level that does not exceed what the Earth can naturally absorb. And what may seem like a long time is actually not that long, especially when we're talking about cars. Hence the importance of the COITT project.

COITT has developed a project to convert combustion cars into 100% electric cars. This way, so many cars won't need to be scrapped in the coming years, they can be given a longer life, and most importantly, they are much cheaper than current electric cars (up to 66% cheaper than a new one).

But, explained like that, it might seem like a dream, right? Less polluting, cheaper... It does come close to a dream, but not everything is perfect. Its weakest point is its range, which only reaches approximately 150 km, with 109 hp of power and 29 kWh of capacity.

In any case, COITT continues to research and improve the technology. So it is worth keeping an eye on COITT and its progress in new mobility.

In conclusion, it is clear that we will see more and more movement because that has always been the general trend of human beings. For this reason, although there is still a lot of work to be done regarding respect for the environment, it is exciting to think that innovations in mobility follow a more ecological pattern than the traditional one.

So don't lose sight of any of these 6 entities because if you move around, you'll keep seeing them very often.