2022 begins with two years of the pandemic behind us and many questions and plans surrounding mobility. Everything suggests that this will be a year in which the importance of artificial intelligence and Big Data will continue to grow in the mobility sector. Furthermore, 2022 will also be a year in which governments and manufacturers will reaffirm their commitment to electric vehicles.
These are the main transport and mobility trends for 2022 according to expert entities such as Otonomo (The Global Platform for Connected Vehicle Data & Mobility) or IEEE Standards Association (IEEE SA), among others.
Increase in the electric vehicle fleet
Over the past few years, various climate agreements and also urban planners have urged manufacturers to seek clean, zero-emission mobility. In general, the entire national bus sector, and, of course, also the bodywork manufacturer we discussed in this post, is committed to the electrification of public transport, a commitment shared with the governments of the main cities in Spain. If we review the electrification plans for public transport in Madrid or Barcelona, we can assure that the fleet of electric buses will continue to grow in our country in 2022. In fact, the latest Auto Mobility Trends barometer from SEAT Spain, based on surveys of 200 vehicle manufacturing companies, indicates that more than 40% of their investments in new developments are focused on electric vehicles.
Thus, it seems that the electrification of personal vehicles, for collective transport or for freight transport will be present in many of the launches or designs produced in 2022.
After all, the steps taken by Spanish vehicle manufacturers in 2022 will be marked by Law 7/2021, of May 20, on climate change and energy transition, which aims to achieve mobility without direct CO2 emissions:
- This law, approved by the Spanish Parliament, obliges municipalities with more than 50,000 inhabitants and island territories to implement, before 2023, measures to promote the electrification of the public transport network and shared electric mobility (carsharing, motosharing…). They are also obliged to establish low-emission zones.
- The General State Administration, the autonomous communities, and local entities will adopt measures to achieve, by the year 2050, a fleet of passenger cars and light commercial vehicles with zero direct CO2 emissions.
- By 2040, new sales of non-commercial vehicles will be zero-emission.
- Law 7/2021 obliges service station owners to progressively install electric charging infrastructure within a period of 21 or 27 months from the entry into force of the regulation (always taking into account the sales volume of each station).Considering this law and other agreements reached at the last United Nations Climate Change Conference held in Glasgow (COP 26), it is clear that the urban mobility of the future will be electric mobility. Only the supply crisis of certain materials resulting from the pandemic could slow down the good pace of transport electrification in Spain in 2022.
The rise of micromobility for the last mile
In this post about transport and mobility trends for 2022, we couldn’t fail to mention micromobility. We define micromobility as those small electric vehicles that are presented as the cleanest and most sustainable option for urban travel. The electric microcar and personal mobility vehicles (PMVs) such as the electric scooter, hoverboard, or electric bicycle are some of the means of transport that integrate this micromobility.
Municipal governments, logistics companies, and vehicle manufacturers are increasingly interested and investing more funds in micromobility:
- Municipal governments see micromobility as a good ally in achieving their environmental goals. PMVs not only alleviate traffic in urban centers but also promote the use of public transport and intermodality. For example, a PMV encourages a citizen living in the suburbs to travel to a public transport stop and take a bus or train there to get to work instead of using their private car. This saves them from urban traffic jams and the search for parking. Many public transport stations already have parking areas for e-scooters, electric bikes, etc.
- Logistics companies also see micromobility as a solution for the last mile. In 2022, it is expected that more companies will use electric microcars or e-scooters for their deliveries, as Correos (the Spanish postal service) is already doing.
- Given the positive reception of micromobility, vehicle manufacturers are highly focused on new micromobility developments. The aforementioned Auto Mobility Trends barometer from SEAT shows how companies with the greatest economic recovery after the 2020 pandemic crisis are those dedicated to new mobility (including micromobility solutions).
There is no doubt that, with the implementation of micromobility, we will achieve those less polluted and friendlier cities that the new urban mobility policies worldwide demand.
Mobility as a Service (MaaS)
2022 will also be the year in which the concept of Mobility as a Service (MaaS) grows internationally. Mobility as a Service integrates all available public or private transport options (bus, train, taxi, bicycle, metro…) into a digital interface for combined mobility and door-to-door travel. By using these MaaS apps, users access truly efficient transport and improve their experience. Furthermore, these digital tools even allow for the payment of tickets or chosen transport services.
In 2021, interest in Mobility as a Service began to grow in Spain, and a conference was organized (supported by the Ministry of Transport, Mobility and Urban Agenda) to address Mobility as a Service with digital solution providers such as Whim, a MaaS platform that is successful in cities like Helsinki, Vienna, or Tokyo and allows users to plan a trip by combining public and private transport alternatives, booking and paying for all tickets through Whim. According to the ministry, in 2022, a line of study and action will continue to facilitate Mobility as a Service and promote new technologies that optimize mobility.
With this digitalization that allows users to access on-demand transport alternatives, the private car will lose importance, and we will move increasingly closer to smart cities.
Connected and autonomous electric vehicles
Speaking of smart cities, everything also indicates that in 2022 the manufacturing and design of connected electric vehicles and autonomous vehicles will grow.
Connected vehicles are vehicles with Internet access capable of connecting wirelessly to nearby devices. As explained in this article by Jayna Locke, marketing director at Digi International, connected vehicles have entertainment systems that connect with the driver’s mobile phone and can also communicate bidirectionally with other vehicles, mobile devices, and city intersections.
These are some of the advantages of connected vehicles:
- they make journeys more pleasant for the driver and passengers;
- they increase safety (thanks to rapid communication between vehicles);
- they avoid congested traffic areas, making driving more efficient;
- they update road signage.
Connected vehicles are expected to begin to be manufactured soon with 5G technology, an advancement that will multiply their possibilities.
In 2022, we will also hear about some advances in autonomous, driverless cars, although their development is much slower (especially in Spain). In China, the company AutoX already offers driverless taxi services, and this year, driverless taxis will begin operating in Germany in certain specific areas.
However, recent failures in the technology of some autonomous vehicles have generated uncertainties regarding their safety, so we do not expect autonomous vehicles to be abundant on the roads in the short term. Likewise, manufacturers will continue to develop improved prototypes in 2022 in pursuit of the most reliable intelligent, connected, and automated vehicle.
Let’s take stock then: electric mobility, micromobility for the first and last mile, MaaS platforms, improved connected and automated vehicles… These are the main transport and mobility trends for 2022, but do you know of any others? At Grupo Castrosua, as you know, we always operate by closely following all updates affecting our sector. A new year of many challenges, study, and intense work begins. We are ready to shape and witness the growth of smart cities and vehicles! Will you join us on this journey?
