Electromobility. The investment theme of the future
Articles

Intelligent mobility. Smart investment in transportation

Technological developments are revolutionizing many sectors of the economy. We only have to think of the retail trade, the financial industry or the media. The world of mobility is also changing right now. We explore some of the catalysts and key aspects of e-mobility in brief.

The benefits of intelligent networks

Digital technologies are increasing the network effect exponentially. This is the invisible force behind much of the technological and economic change that is taking place. It is the only explanation, for example, for the change in retailing due to online business; the demise of the traditional phone book since the advent of Facebook; or the impact of Netflix and the internet on the media sector. The winds of change are also blowing through the mobility sector.

Electromobility is growing in importance

At the same time, the global market for electric cars is experiencing S-shaped growth: growing slowly to begin with, then rising exponentially within a short space of time. This trend is being driven firstly by the People's Republic of China, which is keen to improve air quality in its cities and reduce its dependence on fuel imports. This is why China now accounts for more than 40 percent of all electric vehicles worldwide.

china-is-a-leader-in-electromobility

China is a key market for electromobility

Source: www.visualcapitalist.com

Major cities plan for sustainable mobility

Politics is expediting a sustainable transformation: More than 13 major cities are already putting in place policies to move away from cars over the next ten years and switch largely to public, driverless and electric transportation instead, according to a recent report by Business Insider magazine.

For example, Paris, Madrid, Oslo, Brussels, Berlin, Hamburg, Stuttgart and a number of other European cities are planning to ban all vehicles except electric ones from their city centers by 2030. In Singapore, Shanghai and Beijing, by contrast, all locations within the city centers will soon be accessible in less than 15 minutes without a car, thanks to an intelligent public transportation system.

Intelligent mobility for safer transportation

The 5G networks of the future will represent a technological quantum leap: cars will become travelling data servers, without us even noticing. They will be smarter than ever, able to communicate with other cars, with traffic management systems, with traffic signals, and even with the clothes that pedestrians are wearing in some cases. And all this in real time. This digital connectivity will not only improve traffic flow, but make it safer, too. The software and hardware for this already exists. But our current 4G networks are just too slow. In ten years from now, however, these will be history.

The electromobility market is developing rapidly

Markets with S-shaped growth build slowly at first. Then, at a certain point, that growth accelerates rapidly. Intelligent mobility looks set to follow a similar trajectory, as illustrated by the rise of electric vehicles. Still a niche product today, but very much a runner tomorrow: Within just twenty years, electric vehicles look set to account for 45 percent of total car sales worldwide.

electromobility-is-booming-with-rising-numbers-of-electric-cars

The exemplary rise of the electric car

Source: www.visualcapitalist.com; Morgan Stanley 2017

Investing in intelligent and sustainable mobility

Investors who opt for intelligent mobility would be well advised to consider investing not just in the manufacturers of electric cars. It pays to scratch beneath the surface, where the real winners are often to be found. We aim to uncover some of those possibilities here. There are at least four lines of business that could potentially prove highly lucrative with the emergence of intelligent mobility in the next few years.

  1. Electromobility components
  2. Power and infrastructure
  3. Connectivity for driverless vehicles
  4. Manufacturers of electric vehicles and suppliers

One thing seems certain, however: Intelligent mobility is one of the biggest investment themes of our times.