The Western market is becoming saturated, there is an excess of production. Not everyone can afford a car. And the next generation prefers using their mobile phone over driving a car.
So the car industry is looking for new markets to survive. And seeks answers to mobility issues in:
- Electric car.
- Intelligent car.
- Shared car.
- Information to motorists about alternative transportation.
The suggested solutions have their advantages and disadvantages:
1. Electric car.
No polluting emissions and noise in our environment. Less dependency on oil. Though the charging network has yet to be built.
- – The battery pack is expensive to purchase.
- – With a similar weight per car, the energy consumption remains just as gigantic as the current fleet of 7 million cars.
2. Intelligent car.
This way you no longer have to drive yourself. More cars can fit on the road because they can follow up closer in time (road “train”). Smart car on call can play for interim taxi or park itself outside the city center when you don’t need it.
- – But who guarantees that these complex vehicles remain properly maintained?
- – The technology, maintenance and inspection will not be cheap.
- – A real train bests the road train; more energy efficient, faster, safer and space saving.
3. Shared car.
Perhaps a necessary evil as cars become more expensive. Better utilization. The car does not need to remain parked unused for the best part of the day.
- – But shared ownership gives fuss about usage, availability and cost. Like who keeps the car clean? And what if multiple people want to use the car at the same time?
4. Information to motorists about alternative transportation.
So motorists can bypass traffic jams. Or switch to public transport.
- – But if everyone drives around the traffic jams, the traffic jams will simply appear elsewhere.
- – At change over points, again parking problems will occur. And how to facilitate the post transport?
Conclusion
None of these solutions helps against (in)appropriate car use, traffic and parking problems. Actually, the car should become much smaller, lighter and slower. Then the range will also improve. Anyway, the car alone can not provide us sustainable mobility.