Leonardo Da Vinci is often credited with creating the concept of automobiles. He was ahead of his time, but it remained a theory until Karl Benz and his direct competitor, Gottlieb Daimler, created different prototypes in 1886.
When I picture that time, I envision a group of nerdy innovators excitedly working on their new inventions not grasping the magnitude and scale at which they would revolutionize society and the world at large. The World would certainly not look the way it does today if the automobile had not come along when it did.
But automobiles weren’t invented by just one person. This happened piece by piece and in stages by different people around the world. Today, the world of transportation continues to experience impressive waves of innovation and it’s safe to say that the next few decades of mobility will bring significant changes and improvements. Tipping edge technologies coming from different fields are converging, providing new solutions to old problems and changing our approach to mobility.
Here’s a list of technologies that are changing the landscape of mobility in Africa and the world in general:
- Electric Mobility – Electric vehicles have seen widespread adoption in the world, albeit slower in Africa. In 2022 there were only 1000 electric vehicles in South Africa, which has the most developed e-mobility in Africa. The needle is moving towards an Electric Mobility future, with preference for gasoline cars dropping to 74%, according to a recent survey by Global Automotive Consumer Study. The significant challenges hindering its adoption include the high cost of buying an EV, loadshedding and lack of charging facilities.
- Mobility Data – This is data describing peoples movement from one place to another, and the mode of transport used. Although this is nothing new, before the advent of mobility tracking technology, cities looking to get this data would hire travel consultants to stand on street corners and keep count. But with the advent of new modes of transportation, there’s been a need to refine the data collection process. There’s also been new insights on how this data can be used. Recent example of this include when the data was employed to track and control the Covid epidemic spread, and it’s use in urbanization and traffic planning.
- Car Sharing: This is a unique approach to car-use that has been gaining more ground over the past decade. It challenges the long-held belief that car-use has to be directly tied to car ownership. With each shared vehicle potentially replacing up to 10 individual/personal cars on the road, it’s becoming a much more sustainable model for individuals and cities looking to tackle climate change and traffic congestion. The Peer-to-Peer Car Sharing model takes this further by helping car owners avail their under-used cars to people in their community, thereby earning a side income from it.
- Air Mobility: Every now and then, you come across a video of flying cars and you’re awed by it. But this fascination often wears off after a short while when we return to reality. Despite the technology being in it’s infancy stage, flying cars are fast becoming a reality, along with aerial drone deliveries. Like many of these new technologies, there’s considerable regulatory pushbacks but this isn’t a bad thing—- it just means that regulatory bodies and laws need to keep up.
- AI: The ultimate buzzword of the decade, AI, is slowly but surely finding it’s way into every facet of our lives. So, it’s no surprise that it’s now largely utilized in Mobility and Transportation, helping to leverage data and power fleets. It’s also been incorporated into technologies that use algorithms to detect pedestrians, thereby reducing accidents on the road.
What new mobility technology have you tried lately?
