High costs are holding back the future of mobility
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Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios
Look around: Robotaxis, electric vehicles, autonomous trucks and delivery drones are finally here — and electric air taxis are about to take off in New York and Los Angeles.
Why it matters: The technology may be ready — but the economics aren't. High costs are still preventing these new mobility platforms from reaching the scale needed to become durable, profitable businesses.
Driving the news: In recent days, two big automotive players —Ford and Waymo — have shared details of how they're tackling cost hurdles through innovation.
- In Ford's case, it involved a fresh attempt to design affordable EVs, taking lessons from the world's best.
- At Waymo, it was about protecting its lead in AVs by making its self-driving technology cheaper and more capable.
The big picture: Every technological breakthrough inspires further innovation.
- In Japan, the concept is called kaizen: a philosophy of continuous improvement to eliminate waste and enhance efficiency.
- Mobility companies, having appeared to solve many of their biggest technical challenges, still have a ton of work ahead.
Threat level: For the players involved, the stakes for getting it right are enormous.
- Ford CEO Jim Farley called the company's new universal EV platform "one of the most audacious and important projects in Ford's history," noting the rapid rise of China's low-cost, high-tech vehicles taking over virtually every market outside of the U.S.
What they're saying: Even the best engineers know there are things they could do better, says Sam Abuelsamid, who heads transportation and mobility research at Telemetry Insights.
- "Mistakes in some ways are more important than successes," he tells Axios. "What were the things you didn't do right? Those are the opportunities for improvement."
Learning from others' success, as Ford has done by studying its Chinese competitors, is also important, Abuelsamid says.
- "Don't get bogged down in the 'Not invented here' thing," he says. "See how others are succeeding, what you could do differently, what they did wrong and learn from that."
The bottom line: Creating the future of mobility never stops.
