Functional competence
Center for Future Mobility
How are we moving now and how will we move in the future?
The complexity of future mobility requires in-depth answers. We offer the right solutions!
Solutions for the mobility of tomorrow require integrative and transdisziplinary approaches – that‘s what we are here for
Based on dedicated scenarios and predictions for the underlying technologies and their current and future challenges, you can develop your individual position in the complex ecosystem of future mobility. Given our extensive and all-embracing network of tech firms, sensor producers, OEMs, key Tier-1 and Tier-2 suppliers, public authorities, testing and certification agencies and telecommunication firms, we are able to provide a comprehensive perspective with first-hand information. In addition, we regularly conduct on-site visits of testing sites and other key areas in order to enrich our understanding with real-life data. Finally, thanks to our cutting-edge data analytic software palette, we can analyze vast amounts of crucial data.
The h&z Center for Future Mobility navigates our customers through the new challenges lying ahead in the field of autonomous driving, connectivity and mobility solutions. Our industry expertise, global network and research allows for exactly that.
Autonomous Driving
Autonomous driving systems build on the increasing integration of different advanced driving assistance features (e.g. lane assistance, adaptive cruise control and emergency braking), sensor fusion (e.g. radar, LiDAR, camera, ultrasonic, GPS) and different combinations of HD maps and AI-based decision-taking. Many components come together, which elevates the complexity of the challenge. The current level of progress shows that full autonomy might only partially become available in the near future.
Here at h&z, we do not believe autonomous driving is a ‘one-for-all’ innovation. The technology’s footprint will enlarge incrementally, city by city, and even street by street. Depending on the specific firm’s strategy, these vehicles still face a variety of challenges. They range from issues concerning the technology (dealing with extreme weather conditions, human interaction, object classification, cybersecurity), the legal framework (balancing public safety with supportive testing conditions, enabling commercial applications, and liability questions), the human factor (Human-Machine interaction, public acceptance) and ultimately, the business model.
Connected Vehicles
The connected car refers to ever-more communication of the car and its many subcomponents with the outside world. These include V2V, V2backend, V2infrastructure and more generally V2X communication. Vehicle connectivity often stands in the shade of autonomous vehicles. When taking a closer look, it becomes clear the connectivity leaves a tremendous footprint on many industries: it improves operations and maintenance of vehicles, offers new revenue streams and business models to TelCo firms or insurances, impacts the after-market sector and simultaneously improves lives and comfort of passengers and car owners. In addition, ultimately, a truly autonomous vehicle is dependent on connectivity.
We believe connectivity is a very powerful tool, which is already being monetized in a variety of applications. After-market players are already shifting business models, and that is just the beginning. When thinking about connectivity, operations, maintenance, and especially traffic management often pop up as the key application fields. In addition to those, cyber security, data protection, 5G communications, V2X infrastructure are among our key focus areas and will heavily impact the status quo. Connected vehicles will allow level 4 autonomous vehicles to operate on public roads on large scale. For level 5 autonomy we are firm believers for the need of 5G technology (unless the computational power in cars develops extremely quickly). Lastly, data collection and privacy are heavily scrutinized topics. At h&z, we see concrete solutions to data ownership and distribution that will allow for less friction between industry stakeholders.
Mobility Solutions
The concept of transportation underwent massive changes throughout the last few years, sparked by the ground-breaking on-demand mobility launch of Uber. What followed was an avalanche of shared-mobility solutions, scrutinizing even well-developed concepts such as as bus transportation (see Flix Bus). Today, car ownership is put into question, and large amount of mobility solution providers across different transportation means are competing on price, and struggling with public opinion, regulation and cyber security. In this context, multimodality, i.e. the integration and sharing of different means of transportation, are becoming increasingly important. The mobility revolution has brought many virtues. Now it is time to iron out the issues.
Mobility cannot be approached as a single industry question anymore. There is no choice to be made between street-, rail-, or air-based traffic. Only those firms being able to integrate their offerings (be they products or services) into a larger mobility ecosystem will eventually maintain the crucial access to the end customer. The way we move from A to B will further shift, making daily commutes more affordable and attractive while at the same time lowering the traffic burden on current metropolitan areas significantly. The repercussions of these developments will be felt all the way from Healthcare to the Housing sector.
Alternative Fuels
The world’s energy consumption is set to rise dramatically until 2050. Global consumption of renewable energy is increasing by 3.1% annually until 2050. Growth in petroleum, coal and natural gas consumption will be less than 1.1%.
Currently the Battery Electric Vehicle (BEV) is winning the over the market. Depending on national contingencies, the infrastructure is rapidly being installed, prices per vehicle are going down and the consumer increasingly accepts the technology. Fuel Cell Electric Vehicles on the other hand are not in mass production, which leads to high prices. Also, the infrastructure is not present on a relevant scale. However, once these two problems have been solved, FCEV have distinct competitive advantages over BEV.
We at h&z monitor all relevant trends in this field and always try to integrate the relevant perspectives also from other sectors such as grid infrastructure management, renewable electric power production, and the individual consumer preferences.
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