There is no travel without a means of transport and, whether by train, bus, car or bike, people today expect increasingly efficient, green and comfortable mobility experiences. These are already key words when choosing a hotel or a holiday destination, for which the transport services offered can play a fundamental role. Knowledge of the scenarios that will characterize the world of transport in the coming years can therefore inspire the tourism and hospitality sector to adapt its services to the evolution of travelers' needs and expectations. The future of mobility is already clearly visible in our present, starting with the many small and large inventions that have affected the revolution taking place in the automotive sector.
Electric vehicles with fast recharging, hybrid cars, autonomous driving systems, micro-mobility and sustainability are among the main trends that make up the current mobility landscape. Moving forward, flying cars, increasingly immersive and interactive cockpits, vehicles designed with artificial intelligence tools, suggest an incredible variety of future paths.
The mobility of the future on display at IAA Mobility
IAA Mobility is the largest mobility event in the world which took place in Munich in September welcoming 744 exhibitors and 100 previews of new models. Standing out among the innovations presented, was the new futuristic car from Mercedes-Benz inspired by the film "Avatar", designed to read the driver's brain activity and translate it into driving commands. Not to mention, the second generation Xpengha X2 flying car. The event highlighted the great attention paid to even the most pragmatic innovations, including new models of battery chargers for fast and effective electric cars, intelligent parking systems and services to make the interior of the car more immersive and comfortable.
Innovation and entertainment
Among the technologies linked to the mobility of the future, that of autonomous driving takes on a leading role. During the IAA Mobility, Sixt and Intel Mobileye presented an interesting novelty, launching the first fully electric robot taxi service. The first vehicles, equipped with cameras and sensors capable of calculating the distance of obstacles, should begin to travel the streets of Munich as early as 2022. Self-driving shuttle bus services are also being tested increasingly worldwide, while intelligent cars aim to immerse passengers in a journey made of amazing cinematic effects. Travellers benefit from audio characterized by enhanced and improved sounds, engaging music, digital screens and colored ambient lighting as in the shuttle services offered by Vision X, for a travel experience full of entertainment and digital wonders. There is no shortage of services aimed at promoting well-being and safety such as that of Jaguar Land Rover, which is testing an application capable of monitoring the driver's mood via a camera and biometric sensors that control facial expressions, to automatically adjust all the functions of the interior.
Sources of clean energy
En route to the world of mobility’s carbon zero destination, the spread of electric vehicles is growing, favouring the use of clean energy sources. Within this field, a solution called "battery swap" has emerged, which allows you to recharge the battery of an electric car in a few minutes and replace it easily, avoiding the nightmare of long waits. At the forefront, the Turin-based car manufacturer XEV has recently launched a service that offers the replacement of a discharged battery with a charged one which has attracted the interest of Eni, announcing that in the coming months it will be made available in a selected number of service stations.
At the same time, apps that allow you to plan trips with zero emissions are multiplying and, among these, R3charge also allows travelers to book their hotel based on proximity to charging stations for electric cars.
Solar charging solutions are also being developed: from the largest solar energy research institute in Europe, the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems (ISE), comes the solution of integrating photovoltaic cells into the car roof, which promises to increase the range by 10 km per day.
Urban micro-mobility solutions
Offering a flexible and comfortable travel experience also means proposing articulated transport solutions, which alternate between different modes of transport depending on the setting, for example switching from car to bike. Towards this goal, among the major car manufacturers there is no shortage of innovative ideas of micromobility. Inspired by the e-bike model, designed for greater sustainability of urban traffic: the BMW Group has brought to IAA Mobility a completely new concept halfway between bicycles and motorcycles, with the BMW Motorrad Vision AMBY and the BMW i Vision AMBY, where AMBY stands for "Adaptive Mobility". Two electrically powered vehicles, with different levels of speed for different types of routes, paving the way for a new interpretation of adaptive mobility. Also, the Swedish brand CAKE have exhibited an ultra-technological e-bike designed to be used in combination with the Polestar 2, able to recharge during car journeys and therefore immediately ready for use for short trips.
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