by Michael Sivak. This is the latest in my series of analyses on the relationship between road transportation and economic activity in the United States. Of interest in this study were the changes in distance driven per inflation-adjusted GDP (gross domestic product) since the end of the Second World War.... Read more →

In China, the recently opened Airbus China Innovation Center (ACIC) battery lab is looking to power a new generation of electric-powered aerial vehicles. Asia is the global epicenter of battery development and production, with Japan and Korea as the worldwide leaders. However, China is rapidly catching up to the traditional... Read more →

Airbus and LM Industries, the the parent company of Local Motors and Launch Forth, have formed Neorizon to provide disruptive and innovative products with an initial focus on local mobility and autonomy. The Neorizon microfactory is intended to build products at unprecedented speeds through the combination of co-creation and cutting-edge... Read more →

Hyundai Motor Group (HMG) has completed its creation of a global innovation network with the establishment of Hyundai CRADLE Beijing. With sites in Seoul, Berlin, Tel Aviv, and Silicon Valley, the China office is the fifth center in the network, which exists to explore and utilize various innovation opportunities and... Read more →

Hyundai Motor Group has developed a new prototype electric scooter. Building on its initial concept presented at CES 2017, the new model features rear-wheel drive, a lithium-ion battery and stylish front and rear lights. The latest concept features in future Hyundai Motor Group plans to enable first- and last-mile mobility... Read more →

The California Air Resources Board (CARB) announced a competitive grant solicitation for one or more grantees to implement the Clean Mobility in Schools Pilot Project for Fiscal Year (FY) 2018-19. This solicitation includes an option for new Grant Agreements for fiscal years FY 2019-20 and FY 2020-21, if additional funds... Read more →

Robert Bosch Venture Capital GmbH (RBVC), the corporate venture capital company of the Bosch Group, is leading a US$17.5-million investment in Teralytics, a Swiss software company building a platform to provide advanced mobility analytics powered by telecom network data. It uses proprietary artificial intelligence to extrapolate insights, anonymized and aggregated.... Read more →

Alliance Ventures, the strategic venture capital fund that invests in technology start-ups for Groupe Renault, Nissan Motor Company and Mitsubishi Motors, announced a partnership with Plug and Play China to cooperate on open innovation in the world’s second-largest economy. China is leading innovation in the automotive industry. By harnessing the... Read more →

Babson College and the Toyota Mobility Foundation (TMF), Toyota’s dedicated global foundation to help more people go more places, announced a two-year partnership aimed at accelerating the development of creative mobility solutions that could be deployed in communities in the United States and beyond. The Toyota Mobility Foundation will provide... Read more →

At ‘re:publica’, the digital conference in Berlin, Porsche launched the ideas competition ‘Mobility for a Better World’. Together with its partners, Porsche is looking for fresh ideas and technology for the sustainable future of mobility. Start-ups, students and developers can now submit their projects. A total of €20,000 euros in... Read more →

A new report from Allison+Partners, a global marketing and communications agency, suggests that changing definitions of transportation and an influx of new mobility solutions are paving the way for the birth of a new culture—the mobility culture. Resulting from the intersection of transportation and technology, this cultural shift will be... Read more →

The European Union has chosen the MOBILus consortium, comprising the city of Barcelona, SEAT and 46 other cities, businesses and universities in 15 European countries, to develop the Knowledge and Innovation Community (KIC) on Urban Mobility, an initiative that is tasked with developing innovations in urban mobility in the European... Read more →

The US Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) will lead a team of researchers—in partnership with Dallas Fort Worth (DFW) International Airport, one of the busiest airports in the world—to identify new transportation technologies that could dramatically improve energy use, convenience, and affordability. Working with DFW and the... Read more →

A new study from Juniper Research forecasts that revenues generated by the use of MaaS (Mobility-as-a-Service) platforms, which integrate multi-modal transport services (including buses, taxis, rail and metro), will exceed $11 billion by 2023. This is up from an estimated $100 million in 2018 and reflects an average annual growth... Read more →

With car2go, moovel, mytaxi/Intelligent Apps (mytaxi, beat, Clever Taxi and Chauffeur Privé), the mobility portfolio in the segment of Daimler Financial Services counted 24.4 million customers as of July 30, 2018. This represents an increase of 64% (compared to the previous year). The number of transactions reached 95.3 million in... Read more →

The transport sector is not on track towards achieving sustainable mobility, according to the newly published Global Mobility Report 2017 (GMR). The GMR is the first study to assess the global performance of the transport sector and the progress made toward four main objectives: universal access, efficiency, safety, and green... Read more →

moovel Group, a subsidiary of Daimler AG, has acquired all of Familonet GmbH based in Hamburg. The team from Familonet will be bolstering the moovel development team at the Hamburg site from now on. The Familonet app, with 2 million registered users, will still be offered in the future. moovel... Read more →

As part of MIT’s five-year Plan for Action on Climate Change, the MIT Energy Initiative (MITEI) has launched a major study—“Mobility of the Future”—to explore how consumers and markets will respond to potentially disruptive technologies, business models, and government policies. The scope of this study is ground transportation with an... Read more →

Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (NTU Singapore), JTC and SMRT Services Pte Ltd (SMRT) have joined forces to develop innovative solutions that seamlessly integrate multiple modes of transportation, for better connectivity and accessibility. This is in line with the Government’s aim of making Singapore a living lab to develop and test... Read more →

Advancements such as connectivity, big data, autonomous vehicles and artificial intelligence are driving new economic models for automakers, and most see tremendous revenue potential and consumer value in leveraging driver and vehicle data to offer mobility services, according to the 2017 KPMG Global Automotive Executive Study. The KPMG research, which... Read more →

With “Startup adVANce”, a large-scale startup partnership challenge, Mercedes-Benz Vans is starting its search for intelligent solutions relating to the transport of goods and passengers. As part of its recently introduced strategic initiative adVANce (earlier post), the company is to invest a total of €1 million (US$1.12 million). The goal... Read more →

Pregnant women, children and those with medical conditions in The Gambia—one of Africa’s smallest, poorest countries—may have better access to healthcare through an expansion of a Ford Smart Mobility pilot program. Ford has equipped 50 motorcycles serving Riders for Health with sensor technology so the medical services group can collect... Read more →

Automotive supplier Schaeffler introduced a new micro-mobility concept during the “auto motor und sport” conference. This study shows how the company envisages a solution for urban individual forms of mobility. The Schaeffler concept combines the advantages of stability and weather protection with the energy consumption and space utilization of a... Read more →

Ford Motor Company has created a new subsidiary—Ford Smart Mobility LLC—to design, build, grow and invest in emerging mobility services. The new subsidiary will have operations in Palo Alto, California, and Dearborn, Michigan. Jim Hackett, former Steelcase vice chairman and CEO, is leaving his position on the Ford Board of... Read more →

Consumers expect to use cars differently—showing particular interest in self-enabling vehicles—though they don’t necessarily want to own one in the traditional sense, according to the results of IBM’s automotive consumer study, presented at the North American International Auto Show (NAIAS) in Detroit. This presents opportunities for automakers to apply analytics... Read more →

At the North American International Auto Show (NAIAS), Ford announced FordPass—an ambitious new customer service product that incorporates software services and apps, human agents and storefronts—intended to support the company’s strategic transformation into an auto and a mobility company. With FordPass, Ford says it aims to do for car owners... Read more →

Ford is piloting an on-demand Dynamic Shuttle service for its Dearborn, Michigan, employees this month, providing a new mobility solution featuring smart ride-hailing technology with premium customized shuttles, applying insights from earlier experiments and research with global urban commuters. Dynamic Shuttle—a Ford Smart Mobility experiment announced in January (earlier post)—supports... Read more →

Ford Motor plans to invest RMB 11.4 billion (US$1.8 billion) in research and development in China in recognition that Chinese consumers are increasingly driving global innovation. The investment will allow Ford significantly to build up its research and development capabilities in the country—especially at its Nanjing Research and Engineering Center... Read more →

The Energy Department’s Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) announced $14.5 million in funding for five projects in ARPA-E’s newest program, the Traveler Response Architecture using Novel Signaling for Network Efficiency in Transportation (TRANSNET). Many travelers’ and commuters’ transportation choices waste significant amounts of energy due to traffic complications, convenience and... Read more →

BMW Group has officially launched operations at its Center of Urban Mobility Competence, which it established earlier this year. Its experts are working with cities and the relevant stakeholders to develop sustainable concepts for future mobility in urban areas. BMW established the Competence Center to help bring the goal of... Read more →

A fleet of self-driving shared cars combined with high-capacity public transport could make 90% of conventional cars in mid-sized cities superfluous under certain circumstances, according to a study published by the International Transport Forum (ITF) at the OECD. Even during peak hours, only about one-third (35%) of the current number... Read more →

Ford, Magna International Inc. and Verizon Telematics, are supporting the launch of “Techstars Mobility, driven by Detroit”—a startup business accelerator program sited in downtown Detroit. Together, the companies are committing $2 million in funding plus mentors and other resources to support participating startups. Several Michigan-based venture capital firms will provide... Read more →

A brief study by Dr. Michael Sivak, Director, Sustainable Worldwide Transportation at the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute (UMTRI) concludes that despite the absolute number of vehicles in the US having reached a maximum in 2008, it is highly likely that—from a long-term perspective—the absolute number of vehicles in... Read more →

A new study by the RAC Foundation and the British Vehicle Rental and Leasing Association (BVRLA) examines the potential for alternatives to new car ownership models to kick-start the electric vehicle market. The paper, “Car Rental 2.0”, summarizes the findings from a joint seminar held by the RAC Foundation and... Read more →

A new Ford Motor Company-sponsored poll of 6,000 people across Europe found that most Europeans remain committed to car ownership, but have growing concerns about traffic congestion, the cost of driving and the environment. Ford commissioned the survey, conducted by the consultancy The Futures Company, to better understand the opinions... Read more →

Daimler AG is investing in the ridesharing network carpooling.com GmbH. The main shareholders will continue to be the company’s three founders, as well as venture capital firm Earlybird. The capital investment will serve primarily the development and expansion of carpooling.com’s mobility solutions. carpooling.com is the leading ridesharing network, with 4... Read more →