Electrification, AV delivery among trends to watch

From electric vehicles to delivery to self-driving technology, the industry is anticipating a rapidly evolving mobility landscape.

Electrification is well on its way despite some cost and charging challenges. So are the processes by which the auto industry is looking to deliver the services and products that customers are increasingly expecting. And the road to autonomous vehicles might start with delivery applications, rather than robotaxis or even personal vehicles.

Regardless of the trend, there will be lot of change in the industry moving forward, experts said during the Automotive News Shift Mobility Forum as part of CES last week.

These changes will also all be bolstered by great partnership.

"As the pressures of bringing this new technology to bear, along with the normal competitiveness of the market, continue — and whatever other geo, political or economic challenges that may arise — it's going to be more important for each part of the industry to really understand what they do well, and then learn to leverage the components and the solutions that the other parties bring to the table," said Marques McCammon, president of engineering and environmental consultancy Ricardo Inc.

Industry leaders are bullish about the possibilities for electric drivetrains.

"The tools are there, the range is there and the charging rates are there to make people more comfortable, and it's only going to get better from here," said Kelly Helfrich, manager, electric vehicles and charging infrastructure at General Motors.

However, range anxiety may have been replaced by a different challenge: cost.

"Things have got to get a lot cheaper," said Craig Renneker, vice president, driveline product engineering at supplier American Axle.

Charging infrastructure also poses its own challenges, said Michael Berube, acting deputy assistant secretary for transportation in the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy.

"It's going to take not just the number of chargers that are out there, but it's also going to take a focus on smart charge management," he said. "It's going to take the ability for utilities to be working with OEMs and manage large numbers of EVs on the grid overall."

Delivery needs are driving the near-term future of autonomous vehicles, especially as a result of COVID-19.

Logistics companies are looking to capitalize on the industry's advancements in automated-driving technology given today's accelerated demands for delivered goods.

The shortage of truck drivers, consumer demand for contactless delivery and convenience, as well as concerns related to the environment and safety, will bolster this trend.

But, "We must be careful to make sure that the cost of the service and the cost of the equipment does not offset the benefits of removing the driver," said Daniel Laury, CEO of self-driving delivery company Udelv.

Panelists also discussed how a digital transformation in manufacturing can help automakers fulfill consumers' steady desire for new in-vehicle products and services — even after the car leaves the factory floor.

Working to address what consumers want presents an "opportunity to think about the experience of a consumer in the vehicle itself and what does that architecture need to be in the vehicle in order to ensure that the experiences are not just rich, but also updated over the lifetime of the vehicle," said Tara Prakriya, general manager for Azure IoT Mobility at Microsoft.

Data is a key component to that. With that comes the need to target, collect and analyze the right data from the right sources, which can help automakers meet their goals.

"The automotive industry has been trying to capture new services for quite a while, but I think now is the time to really look and understand what the consumer wants," said Ken Obuszewski, general manager, automotive vertical, at data-management company NetApp.

For some across the industry, the future of mobility and autonomous vehicles are synonymous. But regulatory barriers, the amount of capital the technology requires and consumer wariness could prevent its quick adoption and deployment.

While some consumers seem ready for AVs, Nadeem Sheikh, vice president of self-driving at Lyft, said he ultimately anticipates a hybrid driving ecosystem.

"We think having this blend or hybrid network of both human drivers working alongside AVs, that's going to be critical to making AV adoption really seamless, easy and just as good or better than human-driven rides for consumers," Sheikh said.