Chris Borroni-Bird joins for a Round 2 discussion on the Future of Mobility podcast. Summary
The conversation explores the broken transportation ecosystem and how the developed world can learn from the developing world. The focus is on creating a transportation system that is accessible, affordable, and sustainable. The discussion highlights the need to right-size vehicles, embrace solar power, and rethink mobility in city centers. The vision includes low-speed or banned cars, smaller form factor vehicles, and locally developed and manufactured vehicles. The benefits include improved safety, reduced emissions, and increased affordability. Chris Borroni-Bird discusses the benefits of implementing speed limits in city centers to improve safety, noise, and air quality. He suggests electronically governing the speed of vehicles to no more than 50 miles per hour or 20 miles per hour in areas with high concentrations of pedestrians and cyclists. This would create opportunities for low-speed vehicles to be introduced, providing affordable mobility for underserved populations and cheaper delivery of goods. Borroni-Bird emphasizes the importance of building locally with locally available materials, such as plastic waste or hemp, to create good quality jobs and promote sustainability.
Listen here:
Apple Podcasts: link
Spotify: link
Links:
- Edison Manufacturing Exchange: https://brandonbartneck.substack.com/publish/home
Takeaways
- The transportation ecosystem needs to be accessible, affordable, and sustainable.
- Right-sizing vehicles can meet 90% of transportation needs and reduce costs.
- Solar power can extend the range of vehicles and reduce emissions.
- Rethinking mobility in city centers can improve safety and create local manufacturing opportunities.
- Low-speed or banned cars and smaller form factor vehicles can enhance the urban environment. Implementing speed limits in city centers can improve safety, noise, and air quality.
- Electronically governing the speed of vehicles can create opportunities for low-speed vehicles to provide affordable mobility for underserved populations and cheaper delivery of goods.
- Building locally with locally available materials can create good quality jobs and promote sustainability.
- Right-sizing vehicles and leveraging solar power can make mobility solutions more affordable and environmentally friendly.
Keywords
transportation ecosystem, developed world, developing world, right-size vehicles, solar power, mobility, city centers, low-speed cars, smaller form factor vehicles, locally developed vehicles, safety, emissions, affordability, speed limits, city centers, safety, noise, air quality, low-speed vehicles, affordability, delivery of goods, mobility solutions, locally sourced materials, circular economy, right-sizing vehicles, solar power
Chapters
- 00:00 Innovation Challenges in the Automotive Industry
- 08:43 Impact of Tesla’s Innovation
- 16:49 Rising Costs of Vehicle Ownership
- 29:34 Rethinking Mobility: Low-Speed Urban Vehicles and Sustainable Solutions
- 33:18 The Impact of Right-Sizing and Solar Power on Urban Mobility
- 45:10 Technology, Society, and the Heart of Innovation
- 50:24 Local Vehicle Production: Economic and Environmental Opportunities
- 55:42 Transition Riff.wav
- 55:47 Outro.mp3
Chris Birroni-Bird
Dr. Christopher Borroni-Bird is Founder of Afreecar LLC and an expert on sustainable and affordable mobility for ALL the world’s people. This builds on his 25-year career leading advanced mobility initiatives at several major organizations as well as volunteering in sub-Saharan Africa.
At Afreecar he is a senior advisor on future mobility to McKinsey and is also sought out to provide independent technical due diligence on future mobility solutions and companies in vehicle autonomy, connectivity and electrification.
Separately, Afreecar is also developing an e-kit that power assists non-motorized vehicles while also transforming them into mobile power sources, which has many applications in both the developing and developed worlds.
He served as Waymo’s Chief Engineer for Future Vehicle Programs and has been a Research Scientist at MIT Media Lab. From 2012 to 2017, he was Qualcomm’s VP of Strategic Development, responsible for wireless automotive solutions. Prior to this, he led GM’s Electric Networked Vehicle (EN-V), the world’s first drivable vehicles to demonstrate today’s accepted vision of future mobility (and extensively deployed at the 2010 Shanghai World Expo). He led GM’s Autonomy, Hy-wire and Sequel “skateboard” electric vehicle concepts, now widely adopted by the Auto Industry, and has 50 patents. He is co-author of “Reinventing the Automobile: Personal Urban Mobility for the 21st Century”, with Larry Burns and the late Bill Mitchell (MIT Press, 2010). Before joining GM in 2000, he led Chrysler’s gasoline fuel cell vehicle development. He was inducted into the Automotive Hall of Fame as a Young Leader in 2000 and was one of Automotive News’ inaugural “Electrifying 100” in 2011
Future of Mobility:
The Future of Mobility podcast is focused on the development and implementation of safe, sustainable, effective, and accessible mobility solutions, with a spotlight on the people and technology advancing these fields.
Edison Manufacturing and Engineering:
Edison is your low volume contract manufacturing partner, focused on assembly of complex mobility and energy products that don’t neatly fit within traditional high-volume production methods.