Building the Last Mile of Mobility

Once again, autonomous vehicles were the talk of CES. But this year, in addition to the flashy new cars and technology showcased on the convention center floor, conversation centered around how long it will take for true autonomous vehicles to hit the road. While we are years out, it also became clear that connected mobility is here - today.

Virtually every vehicle coming off the assembly line now has a modem with internet connectivity. 5G promises to deliver lightening-fast bandwidth with negligible latency that will transform the nature of connected content and mobility services. Large consumer brands like Google, Amazon and Apple are focused on bringing convenient connected features and their content to drivers and passengers across the world. The promise of a driver pulling out of the garage having their coffee ordered automatically, their parking spot reserved and paid for, the nearest gas pump or EV charger primed and ready to fuel, and their route optimized to get to their first meeting on time seems like it should be available today. But there’s still a lot of work to be done to make that a reality at scale - and lots of collaboration between stakeholders. 

To address this opportunity, we were honored to host a compelling and thought-provoking forum at the outset of CES with our friends from ChargePoint and P97 Networks. The invite-only group of 100+ executives from automakers, big consumer brands, fleet owners, smart city proponents, technology companies, payment companies, service provides, public and private landowners, and more, discussed how we will all work together to bring the connected future to reality.

Key Takeaways from The Last Mile of Mobility Executive Roundtable

The Connected Car Will Become The Center Of Commerce on the Go.

Gone are the days of fumbling for your phone while driving. Your connected car is an extension of the tools you use every day - built as a platform and designed to integrate into all aspects of your daily life.  Moving from your kitchen to the car and on to work or play, the services you use every day will be embedded in your car and you will have instant access to your favorite entertainment, productivity, ecommerce, payment and service tools.   

It’s Not Just The Experience. It’s About The Relationship.

Just like real-life relationships, context is critical.  By leveraging data from a variety of sources, more customized and simpler experiences can be created - leading to lasting relationships with automakers or transportation providers and making it easier for customers to adapt to new modes of travel with the help of incentives. When a positive experience occurs, value and profit will follow.

Tech Standards Will Allow Customers To Consume On-The-Go Services.

Many connected services, such as parking and gas, are highly fragmented. Industry leaders must agree on open standards to consolidate the supply to digitally connect them, and bring it to the open market - allowing automakers, navigation partner and others a more seamless way to access their capabilities.

The Power Of Your Voice.

The future of voice belongs in the connected vehicle. By allowing drivers to actually start their journey outside of the car with a meeting reminder or morning wake-up from Alexa, for example, automakers can create a stronger user experience from start to finish. Voice is already proving itself to be a desirable feature, as more than 75 percent of people say they want the same in-home voice assistant in their car. Why? It’s a seamless experience.

Collaboration And Open Innovation Are Key.

Gone are the days of building closed systems. Today, automakers are focused on open innovation and collaboration with industry-leading service providers. By evolving digitally and creating an underlying platform in each vehicle, automakers can build on what’s already been created and leverage existing systems and partners to fulfill customer needs and desires.

While much work remains, we are inspired to continue working with our partners to innovate and bring new technologies and business models that benefits the entire ecosystem forward. If you’re interested in learning more or want to be part of the solution, please don’t hesitate to reach out to me at yona@arrive.com.