2021 – a year when real automotive and mobility events returned to Europe, well sort of. The Geneva International Motor Show was a no-show. It now won’t return until 2023. The IAA Frankfurt Motor Show moved to Munich, and became a mobility showcase. SHIFTx in Berlin was a hybrid event. But MOVE in London was fully real, and full of actual, real human beings.
Auto Futures sent teams to IAA Mobility, SHIFTx and MOVE to film interviews with mobility executives. Here are some of the year’s highlights.
According to Johann Jungwirth, the Vice President MaaS at Mobileye, autonomous vehicles (AVs) will have a bigger impact on the future of mobility than the transformation to electric vehicles. Jungwirth was one of the key speakers at SHIFTx in Berlin.
Talking to Auto Futures, he discussed gaining the public’s confidence in driverless transport, and testing AVs around the world.
VanMoof’s ambitions are simple – to make the best city bike in the world, and to get a billion people on bicycles. Shannon E. Thomas is the Head of Experience Design at the Dutch eBike company.
At SHIFTx, she talked to Auto Futures about its plans, and its new round of funding.
IAA Mobility 2021 was held in Munich in September. MINI was one of the many major automotive brands that had a significant presence at the show.
After a successful roll-out of its EVs, one in every three MINI sold in the key European markets is now electric. Auto Futures gained insight into the brand’s electrification plans with Bernd Körber, the Head of MINI.
At IAA, Magna International displayed a wide range of new mobility technologies. Its new eDrive technologies allows vehicles to maximise performance, whilst offering a more sustainable solution. It also showed off its Magna eBeam technology, one of the first outcomes from its joint venture partnership with LG Electronics.
Auto Futures caught up with Tom Rucker, the President of Magna Powertrain.
In October, the MOVE 2021 event returned to a live, two-day format in London. One of the many interviews we filmed was with the automotive industry leader, Dr Andy Palmer, who’s now the CEO of SWITCH Mobility, a maker of electric commercial vehicles, such as buses.
Palmer told us it’s absolutely imperative for governments, businesses, and consumers to make the switch away from fossil fuels towards net-zero carbon transport, including fossil-free charging and manufacture – but it won’t be easy.
The coronavirus pandemic has been a gamechanger for the micro-mobility sector, with consumers ditching public transport and cars for e-scooters and e-bikes. That’s according to Dott’s CEO and co-founder, Henri Moissinac.
Auto Futures talked to Moissinac at MOVE 2021 in London.
One of the breakthrough companies of 2021 has been REE Automotive. Its key technology – the REEcorner – packs critical vehicle components (steering, braking, suspension, powertrain and control) into a single compact module positioned between the chassis and the wheel.
We caught up with REE’s CEO, Daniel Barel, at MOVE in London.
We’re expecting more exciting moves in the new year from REE, and many of the other companies we’ve interviewed in 2021.
We hope you’ve enjoyed this gallop through our coverage of some of the year’s major mobility events. We wish you a happy, safe and healthy holiday.
We hope to see you again (maybe in person?) in 2022.
