And the hits keep coming for the collision repair industry.
According to a new report from Navigant Research, the rise of mobility services (such as ridesharing) and automated driving could dramatically reduce the number of vehicles on the roads by 2035.
Automation “promises to disrupt the global transportation system through improved efficiency in cost, time and space,” Navigant Research said. “This is likely to encourage greater adoption of [light-duty-vehicle] travel via highly utilized vehicles, which are expected to become smaller and increasingly energy-efficient.”
However, if automation and mobility services aren’t accompanied by electrification or alternative fuels, they won’t live up to their promise of reducing fossil fuel consumption, asserted Scott Shepard, senior research analyst with Navigant Research.
“In this respect, city governments will wield significant power in determining what technologies are adopted in automated mobility services, and those determinations are likely to be to the advantage of vehicles with zero-emissions capabilities,” Shepard added.
Navigant Research estimates that battery electric vehicles will account for 8 percent of the global light-vehicle population by 2035, but could reach as high as 17 percent with high oil prices and aggressive declines in battery prices.