Ride: The Urban Mobility Podcast

GUESTS: Oz Choudhri, Enterprise Mobility and Oliver Mackprang, MILES Mobility

ABOUT THIS EPISODE

As regular listeners know, RIDE is not an automotive podcast. However, this episode is all about cars.

We all know the story: despite growing congestion on our roads, cars spend something like 95% of the day parked.

They’re also expensive to run and own. Indeed, for many people a car is famously the second-largest financial commitment after their house or home.

So what if we could use cars when we need them, leaving the ownership to someone else, that someone else being a car club or a car-sharing operator happy to assume the responsibility for the total cost of ownership of these high value assets.

In this episode of RIDE, we look at a clear example of usership rather than ownership, with two experts in car-sharing: Oz Choudhri, head of mobility solutions at Enterprise Mobility, and Oliver Mackprang, CEO of Berlin-based MILES Mobility.

In this episode we discuss:

• The differences between car club, car sharing, leasing, and rental
• The challenges and opportunities of free floating and station-based or back-to-base models
• How car sharing fits into the wider mobility ecosystem
• Why car-sharing may be an attractive option for businesses, taking away the burden of fleet management, and helping with metrics such as corporate social responsibility (CSR) and environment, social and governance (ESG).

You can subscribe to Ride: The Urban Mobility Podcast wherever you get your podcasts. Feel free to share it, like it, give it a rating, sign up to the Ride LinkedIn page, and check out our website, ridemobilitypodcast.com.

GUESTS: Mark Preston, StreetDrone; Dan Goff, Kodiak Robotics; Lukas Neckermann, PAVE Europe & Neckermann Strategic Advisors

ABOUT THIS EPISODE

Autonomous passenger cars are just one aspect of autonomous vehicle development. The autonomous vehicles we discuss in this episode are autonomous trucks pulling heavy loads.

Martin and guest co-host Lukas Neckermann chat to Dan Goff of Kodiak Robotics and Mark Preston from StreetDrone about the use of AV technology in first-mile, last-mile, and long-haul freight and logistics.

StreetDrone develops technology for autonomous logistics applications, with vehicles using its solutions for first- and last-mile short-distance heavy load haulage on private and off-highway roads in industrial compounds such as ports, notably the Port of Rotterdam, and factories, such as Nissan's Sunderland car factory.

It's from Kodiak Robotics that we get the 18,000-mile reference in the title; the "Kodiak Driver" enables autonomous long-haul highway driving for Class 8 trucks - that is, US big-rig 18-wheelers. And it does this on an 18,000-mile network of highways that covers almost a fifth of the US Interstate System, taking in 14 states and spanning four time zones.

ABOUT THE GUESTS

Mark Preston is Co-Founder and CTO of autonomous truck systems supplier StreetDrone, and Director of Lola Cars Motorsport. He began his career in Formula 1, with stints as Head of R&D at Arrows, Principal Designer at McLaren Racing, and Founder & Technical Director of the Super Aguri Formula 1 team. After F1, he became the most decorated Team Principal in the history of Formula E.

Connect with Mark on LinkedIn

Dan Goff is Director of External Affairs at Kodiak Robotics. His career includes time at Accenture, the role of Deputy Director of the Illinois Department of Commerce, and the Board of the ACLU of Illinois.

Connect with Dan Goff on LinkedIn

Lukas Neckermann runs Neckermann Strategic Advisors, and is a co-founder of PAVE Europe.

Connect with Lukas on LinkedIn

Picture credit: Marcin Jozwiak

You can subscribe to Ride: The Urban Mobility Podcast wherever you get your podcasts. Feel free to share it, like it, give it a rating, sign up to the Ride LinkedIn page, and check out our website, ridemobilitypodcast.com.

GUEST: Inderveer Singh, CEO, EVage Motors

ABOUT THIS EPISODE

EVage Motors pitches itself not as an electric commercial vehicle company, but as "a tech-driven, innovations-led, purpose-powered, new-age electric mobility solution company."

And the solution it's developing is to the problem of city pollution. EVage founders - who established the company in Chandigarh, northern India in 2014 - note that although cities occupy just 5% of the world's land mass, they are home to 50% of the world's population. They also struggle from poor air quality, and commercial vehicles alone are responsible for over a third of atmospheric pollution - hence EVage's focus on delivering sustainable commercial vehicles.

In this episode, you’ll hear co-founder & CEO Inderveer Singh talk about:

🇮🇳 Why an Indian company is bringing an all-new electric CV brand to market
✅ How to balance sustainability with vehicle performance
🚚 Why electrification is important not just for OEMs and fleets, but for the truck drivers themselves
✅ The EVage scalable skateboard platform
🏭 The company’s M3 modular manufacturing strategy
🔋 Innovative LTO Li-ion EV battery technology
🌍 Ambitions for overseas expansion

Connect with Inderveer on LinkedIn

You can subscribe to Ride: The Urban Mobility Podcast wherever you get your podcasts. Feel free to share it, like it, give it a rating, sign up to the Ride LinkedIn page, and check out our website, ridemobilitypodcast.com.

Guest: Gunnar Froh, CEO, Wunder Mobility

ABOUT THIS EPISODE

Wunder Mobility provides white label software-as-a-service (SAAS) and hardware for vehicle sharing operators with fleets of e-bikes, e-scooters, e-mopeds, and cars. Based in Hamburg, the company was founded almost a decade ago and has now provided solutions for over 200 cities around the world.

We sat down with Gunnar Froh, Wunder Mobility’s founder and CEO to talk about the evolution of shared mobility, the role of electrification and autonomous technology, ChatGPT and AI, carpooling and public transportation, the 15-minute city, and the need for solutions for extra-urban and rural mobility.

You can subscribe to Ride: The Urban Mobility Podcast wherever you get your podcasts. Feel free to share it, like it, give it a rating, sign up to the Ride LinkedIn page, and check out our website, ridemobilitypodcast.com.

GUEST: Tristan Rousselle, Founder & CEO, Aryballe

ABOUT THIS EPISODE

What is digital nose technology? And what role could it play in future mobility?

Our guest on this episode is Tristan Rousselle, founder and CEO of Aryballe, a digital olfaction firm that uses biochemical sensors, advanced optics, and machine learning to detect odour and turn it into data. This data is worth little, however, without a database behind it, and Aryballe’s USP is a searchable digital library of smells.

In this episode, we talk about Aryballe’s digital nose technology, the origins of the company, how digital olfaction can be used in automotive and future mobility applications, domestic robots with noses in their fingers, and of course, cheese, wine, and fish odours.

Connect with Tristan on LinkedIn

SHOW NOTES

Humans Can Identify More Than 1 Trillion Smells
https://www.nih.gov/news-events/nih-research-matters/humans-can-identify-more-1-trillion-smells

European Union-funded Rose project, in which Aryballe is a lead participant (Restoring Odorant detection and recognition in Smell dEficits)
https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/964529

Moorfields patient receives world’s first 3D printed eye
https://www.moorfields.nhs.uk/news/moorfields-patient-receives-world-s-first-3d-printed-eye?

Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for 2004 awarded jointly to Richard Axel and Linda Buck for their discoveries of “odorant receptors and the organization of the olfactory system.”
https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/medicine/2004/press-release/  

You can subscribe to Ride: The Urban Mobility Podcast wherever you get your podcasts. Feel free to share it, like it, give it a rating, sign up to the Ride LinkedIn page, and check out our website, ridemobilitypodcast.com.

GUEST: Professor Carlos Moreno

ABOUT THIS EPISODE

When we first conceived the Ride podcast, one of the topics at the top of the list was the 15-minute city. This episode features an interview with Professor Carlos Moreno of the Pantheon-Sorbonne in Paris, the man credited with conceiving the 15-minute city.

Until just a few years ago, the 15-minute city was a compelling urban planning theory around which new and future mobility solutions would be developed. It was only really known about by mobility nerds.

The idea of the 15-minute city is ambitious, yet simple: citizens and communities should have everything they need in daily life - such as work, recreation, shops, public services - within a 15-minute walk or bicycle ride from home or any point in the city.

But in the last couple of years, the 15-minute city has gone on to become mainstream news, a highly controversial issue which has divided communities, with views often unsurprisingly matching political affiliation - and it’s attracted the ire of conspiracy theorists and tabloid media in particular.

But it’s a concept that’s widely misunderstood, by the public and by urban planners alike, and it’s frequently bundled into, or confused with often unpopular or poorly conceived traffic and transport policies. As a result, the term 15-minute city has become a synonym for a so-called war on motorists.

This interview has been rescheduled a couple of times, and our interest in speaking to Professor Moreno has changed from initially wanting to find out more about the concept, to asking why he thinks it’s become so controversial, and to give him the opportunity to present his side of the story.

You can subscribe to Ride: The Urban Mobility Podcast wherever you get your podcasts. Feel free to share it, like it, give it a rating, sign up to the Ride LinkedIn page, and check out our website, ridemobilitypodcast.com.

• Dr Chris Borroni-Bird, founder of Afreecar LLC
• Prodip Chatterjee, co-founder of Nunam
• Sukhjeevan Uppal, Chief Technology Officer at eTukTuk

• Next-generation tuktuks - and more, including bicycles and handcarts;
• Electrifying mobility in emerging markets;
• Developing affordable vehicles;
• New mobility business models - including the use of blockchain;
• And the role that could be played by used electric vehicle batteries.

You can subscribe to Ride: The Urban Mobility Podcast wherever you get your podcasts. Feel free to share it, like it, give it a rating, sign up to the Ride LinkedIn page, and check out our website, ridemobilitypodcast.com.

GUESTS: Dan Sturges and Lukas Neckermann

ABOUT THIS EPISODE

Lifelong car fan and vehicle designer Dan Sturges discusses his new book, ‘Near to Far: A design for a new equitable and sustainable transportation system’. The book is both the culmination of a life in vehicle design and the automotive industry, and something a manifesto for the future of mobility.

You’ll note the reference to Dan being a car fan, but not a petrolhead, for reasons that will become clear.

The list of organisations which he has worked is long; a transportation designer, entrepreneur, and educator, his career started as an automobile designer at General Motors, and has since included time at, among others, ITS at UC Davis, GEM cars, Segway, Calstart, IntraGO, Local Motors, Acorn Delivery, and the US Transportation Research Board committee for New Public Transportation Systems and Technology.

Dan has become increasingly disillusioned by the increase not just in the number of vehicles on the road, but also the size of those vehicles, many of which are disproportionately large for everyday use. And it’s that term, everyday use, which Dan seeks to address in his book. The references to vehicle size here lean towards what’s offered to North American buyers, but even in Europe, it's difficult to think of a vehicle that got smaller from one generation to the next.

In this episode, Dan talks about how you can be a mobility advocate and a car fan – they’re not mutually exclusive; how car designers can help in the transition from ownership to usership; and why the transition is impossible without a holistic mobility ecosystem that incorporates new vehicles, new infrastructure, and new business models.

Also on this episode is Lukas Neckermann, of Neckermann Strategic Advisors – Lukas is, as many listeners will know, a major advocate of urban mobility, and like Dan, has a background in the automotive industry.

EPISODE NOTES

You can learn more about Dan's book - Near to Far: A design for a new equitable and sustainable transportation system - by following this link, and by checking local Amazon stores for availability.

ABOUT THE GUESTS

Dan Sturges

Dan is a mobility designer, educator, and entrepreneur. Learn more about Dan here - and connect with him on LinkedIn

Lukas Neckermann

Lukas is a consultant, speaker, mobility advocate and the author of several books on the future of mobility.

Learn more about Neckermann Associates here

Connect with Lukas on LinkedIn

You can subscribe to Ride: The Urban Mobility Podcast wherever you get your podcasts. Feel free to share it, like it, give it a rating, sign up to the Ride LinkedIn page, and check out our website, ridemobilitypodcast.com.

GUESTS: Sandra Witzel, CMO SkedGo, and Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson

ABOUT THIS EPISODE

"Mobility for all" is an oft-used and well-intentioned phrase – but images of urban mobility and new mobility solutions rarely feature people with impaired mobility, or anyone living with a disability, raising questions about the concept of mobility for all.

People living with disabilities face any number of challenges in the quest to get around, whether that’s related to urban planning, physical barriers and obstructions, infrastructure issues, ageing transport networks, poorly designed solutions, untrained transit support staff, or personal safety – to name but a few...

According to UN data, around a billion people worldwide live with disabilities - nearly 15% of the global population, and that rises to nearly 20% in low- and middle-income countries. The World Health Organization says around 75 million people worldwide need a wheelchair, but only 5-15% have access to one.

But accessibility in mobility is about so much more than wheelchairs – it’s about the many more hidden disabilities; it’s about reduced mobility, impaired vision and hearing, provisions for the elderly and infirm - and about planning for inclusive mobility, rather than making it an afterthought.

ABOUT THE GUESTS

Prior to taking up a seat in the House of Lords, Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson represented Great Britain as a wheelchair racer at five Paralympic Games, winning a total of 16 medals: 11 gold, four silver and a bronze; at the World Championships, she won six gold, five silver and two bronze; and she won the London Marathon six times.

Connect with Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson on LinkedIn

Sandra Witzel is an advocate for mobility as a service; she’s the co-founder of Women in Mobility UK; and she’s a frustrated public transport user, with impaired mobility caused by life with Musculo-skeletal issues. Chief Marketing Officer and board member at mobility app SkedGo, she’s also a certified and award-winning health coach.

Connect with Sandra Witzel on LinkedIn

SHOW NOTES

Up Down London
Lift status at Transport for London stations
https://www.updownlondon.com/

Step-Free London
Step-free map and future access
https://stepfreelondon.uk/map/

Briometrix Mobility Maps
Effort-based Mobility Maps which display colour-coded footpath networks, indicating the degree of difficulty for a person in a wheelchair to traverse the pathway.
https://briometrix.com/

Handimap
Route planning app that takes into account the accessibility of sidewalks, crossings and paths, as well as obstacles (urban furniture, works...)
https://www.handimap.fr/

You can subscribe to Ride: The Urban Mobility Podcast wherever you get your podcasts. Feel free to share it, like it, give it a rating, sign up to the Ride LinkedIn page, and check out our website, ridemobilitypodcast.com.

GUEST: Stefan Krause, CEO, B-ON

ABOUT THIS EPISODE

Stefan Krause returns to Ride: The Urban Mobility Podcast for a more in-depth discussion about B-ON, the challenges and opportunities of last mile delivery and fleet electrification, and the importance on zero emission strategies of regional policy such as Europe’s regulation on combustion engines, and the US Inflation Reduction Act (IRA).

B-ON has over 20,000 vehicles on the road, delivering everything from milk and groceries, to post and packages - and it has a fascinating backstory, growing out of dedicated electric last mile delivery vehicle maker StreetScooter.

ABOUT THIS EPISODE'S GUEST

Stefan Krause’s CV includes seven years at BMW, where he was Chief Finance Officer, and a driving force behind the launch of BMW’s all electric i3, and eight years at Deutsche Bank, where he was the global Chief Finance Officer and a member of the board of management. He’s also been CFO and COO of Faraday Future; CEO of Canoo, a company he founded; and President and COO of Fisker.

Connect with Stefan on LinkedIn

You can subscribe to Ride: The Urban Mobility Podcast wherever you get your podcasts. Feel free to share it, like it, give it a rating, sign up to the Ride LinkedIn page, and check out our website, ridemobilitypodcast.com.

GUEST: Alain Visser, Chief Executive, Lynk & Co

ABOUT THIS EPISODE

Our guest for this episode is Alain Visser, the founder and CEO of Lynk & Co, a car company that’s trying to do things a little differently.

Lynk & Co is part of the Geely Auto Group, which itself is part of Li Shufu’s Huangzhou, China-based Zhejiang Geely Holding Group. The Group's brand portfolio includes Geely Auto, Proton, Lotus, Volvo Cars, Polestar, and London Electric Vehicle Company, as well as several others.

Lynk & Co was founded in 2016 by Alain Visser, who has decades of auto industry experience. He’s worked at Ford, GM, and Volvo Cars, and he’s now on a mission to position Lynk & Co as a global mobility brand, offering customers the opportunity to subscribe, buy, or borrow a Lynk & Co vehicle.

There’s only one Lynk & Co model, the 01, offered in blue or black, with no other options. There are no Lynk & Co dealerships. Instead, Lynk & Co has what it calls Clubs, located in big city centres.

If you choose the membership option, it’s on a month-by-month basis, which the company says you can cancel anytime. What sets this apart from other car brand subscription models is that members can share their car with others and lower their monthly costs.

Lynk & Co is currently operational in China and Europe. In 2024, it will add the UK to its European markets, and has Clubs in Italy, Spain, Germany, Sweden, Belgium, and the Netherlands.

In this episode, Alain Visser explains why he's the automaker CEO who would prefer to not sell you a car.

ABOUT ALAIN VISSER

Alain Visser’s extensive experience in the automotive industry includes leading roles in automaker sales and marketing. He spent 17 years at Ford Motor Company, nine years at General Motors, and four years at Volvo Cars. He established Lynk & Co in 2016. You can connect with Alain on LinkedIn

EPISODE NOTES

• Roger Atkins: "Mass adoption of EV’s would be a big mistake" LINK
• Bill Ford: "A future beyond traffic gridlock" LINK
• Lukas Neckermann: "Global automotive production today is no higher than it was a decade ago. The industry is stagnant, and trending downward." LINK
• Marco Te Brommelstroet, of the urban planning platform Lab of Thought: “Electric cars are not here to save the planet. They are here to save the car industry.” LINK

You can subscribe to Ride: The Urban Mobility Podcast wherever you get your podcasts. Feel free to share it, like it, give it a rating, sign up to the Ride LinkedIn page, and check out our website, ridemobilitypodcast.com.

GUESTS: Jona Christians, Sono Motors; Alain Visser, Lynk & Co; Marcus Welz, Hyundai Motor Europe; and Patrick Ayad, Hogan Lovells

ABOUT THIS EPISODE

For over a century, automakers have been selling a dream - namely, a means of mobility. But as the focus of mobility shifts from a reliance on personal transportation to a clean, zero-emissions seamless multi-modal journey, can the automakers pivot, and remain relevant, while still selling a dream?

This discussion about the evolution of sustainable mobility in Europe, featured:

• Jona Christians, CEO & Co-Founder of Sono Motors
• Alain Visser, CEO, Lynk & Co
• Marcus Welz, Vice President Smart Mobility, Hyundai Motor Europe
• Patrick Ayad, Global Leader Mobility & Transportation, Hogan Lovells

This panel discussed electrification, ownership versus usership, sustainability, ESG, and the challenges of developing different and competing zero emission propulsion technologies such as battery and fuel cell EVs.

We asked: Should technology development be driven by regulation or market forces?

And we challenged the panel: Do automakers really “get” mobility?

CONNECT WITH THE EXPERTS

• Connect with Jona Christians on LinkedIn
• Connect with Alain Visser on LinkedIn
• Connect with Marcus Welz on LinkedIn
• Connect with Patrick Ayad on LinkedIn

This is the fourth and final instalment in a series of Ride podcast episodes recorded live at Reuters Automotive Europe 2022. Thanks to Jona, Alain, Marcus, and Patrick for taking part in this discussion, and thanks to Reuters Events for collaborating on this recording.

Learn more about Reuters Events at Reutersevents.com

You can subscribe to Ride: The Urban Mobility Podcast wherever you get your podcasts. Feel free to share it, like it, give it a rating, sign up to the Ride LinkedIn page, and check out our website, ridemobilitypodcast.com.

GUESTS: Dr Thomas Becker, BMW Group; Monica Perez Lobo, Toyota Motor Europe; Kunal Phalpher, Li-Metal.

ABOUT THIS EPISODE

This episode of the Ride podcast is brought to you in partnership with Reuters Events. It was recorded at Reuters Automotive Europe 2022 in Munich earlier this year, where Ride hosted a panel on ensuring net zero throughout the automotive value chain, featuring:

• Dr Thomas Becker, VP Sustainability, Mobility at BMW Group; 
• Monica Perez Lobo, VP Corporate Affairs and Sustainability at Toyota Motor Europe;
• Kunal Phalpher, President of Li-Metal and Advisor to Li-Cycle.*

For consumers, clean mobility is all about zero emissions at the point of use. 

There’s a perfectly reasonable expectation that everything that happens before and after they own or use the vehicle is equally clean. 

For the various industry stakeholders providing those zero emissions vehicles, it’s all about ensuring a net zero value chain, from raw material sourcing through to end of life vehicle handling--and that means establishing and implementing business strategies and partnerships to meet net-zero emissions targets.

During the discussion, we talked about

• What net zero means for each organisation;
• How and whether companies can ensure net zero runs throughout the value chain, with correct practices and net zero activities even at the very distant ends of the supply chain, such as battery raw material mining at one end, and EV battery recycling at the other;
• We discussed the pursuit of different zero emission vehicle technologies, and their reliance on infrastructure development as well as consumer demand;
• And we talked about the complexity of balancing the three Rs - reduce, reuse, recycle.

ABOUT THE SPEAKERS

• Dr Thomas Becker: Connect with Thomas on LinkedIn here
• Monica Perez Lobo: Connect with Monica on LinkedIn here
• Kunal Phalpher: Connect with Kunal on LinkedIn here

*Shortly after this interview was recorded, Kunal changed roles from Chief Strategy officer at Li-Cycle, a lithium-ion battery recycling company, to President of Li-Metal, a lithium metal and lithium metal anode company. He remains an Advisor to Li-Cycle.

Thank you to Reuters Events for collaborating on this recording. Learn more about Reuters Events at Reutersevents.com

You can subscribe to Ride: The Urban Mobility Podcast wherever you get your podcasts. Feel free to share it, like it, give it a rating, sign up to the Ride LinkedIn page, and check out our website, ridemobilitypodcast.com.

GUESTS: Philippe Brunet, Renault Group; Felix Reinshagen, NavVis; Dr Michael Kohnhäuser, BMW Group

ABOUT THIS EPISODE

This episode of Ride is brought to you in partnership with Reuters Events, and was recorded at Reuters Automotive Europe 2022 in Munich earlier this year. Ride was invited to moderate a discussion on producing cost-effective EVs, with a panel featuring:

• Dr Michael Kohnhäuser, Head of Innovation Management and Digitization Production Drive at BMW Group
• Philippe Brunet, Alliance SVP, Powertrain and EV Engineering at Groupe Renault
• Felix Reinshagen, CEO and Co-founder of NavVis

The cost of producing an EV is currently anywhere up to 50% more than an equivalent combustion engine vehicle (read more here and here). The battery alone can account for 30% to 50% of the value of the vehicle.

There are some costs which automakers cannot control, at least in the short to medium term. But what automakers can do is optimise their manufacturing processes, making them as cost-effective as possible. And that’s where the factory of the future and digital manufacturing techniques come into play, as well as more immediate solutions such as digital twin technology.

Groupe Renault has been working with Google since 2019 on digitizing its Industry 4.0 processes, using cloud and artificial intelligence to manage supply and demand throughout its supply chain, manufacturing, and logistics. And BMW Group has recently announced that all of its vehicle plants will be digitised using 3D laser scanning by early 2023, using scanning technology and software supplied by NavVis.

During the discussion, we talked about:

• How to achieve production cost parity between EVs and ICEs; 
• How to reduce time to market; 
• The role of the battery;
• And what cost effective means when it comes to producing EVs.

ABOUT THE SPEAKERS

• Philippe Brunet: Connect with Philippe Brunet on LinkedIn here
• Felix Reinshagen: Connect with Felix Reinshagen on LinkedIn here 
• Michael Kohnhäuser: Connect with Michael Kohnhäuser on LinkedIn here  

Thank you to Reuters Events for collaborating on this recording.  Learn more about Reuters Events at reutersevents.com.

You can subscribe to Ride: The Urban Mobility Podcast wherever you get your podcasts. Feel free to share it, like it, give it a rating, sign up to the Ride LinkedIn page, and check out our website, ridemobilitypodcast.com.

GUEST: YANN VINCENT, CEO OF AUTOMOTIVE CELLS COMPANY (ACC)

ABOUT THIS EPISODE

This episode of Ride: The Urban Mobility Podcast is brought to you in partnership with Reuters Events. It was recorded at Reuters Automotive Europe 2022 in Munich, where we had the opportunity to interview Yann Vincent, the CEO of Automotive Cells Company (ACC).

According to Vincent: "ACC was created two years ago in August 2020 with a very simple objective, which is to build a European champion for engineering and manufacturing batteries in Europe."

This wide ranging conversation covered the challenges that any battery maker faces in scaling production and the challenges a European supplier will face in a market dominated by companies from Asia. We also talked about sustainability, recycling, and long-term planning in an industry of rapidly evolving technologies.

We’d like to thank Yann Vincent for taking part in this discussion, and Reuters Events for collaborating with us for this episode of Ride: The Urban Mobility Podcast.

Learn more about Reuters Events at Reutersevents.com 

And you can subscribe to Ride wherever you get your podcasts - and feel free to share it, like it, give it a rating, sign up to the Ride LinkedIn page, and check out our website, ridemobilitypodcast.com.

ABOUT THE GUEST

Yann Vincent is the Chief Executive Officer of ACC. He joined Renault in 1982 where he held various functions; he was appointed Director of Quality in 2005, and Chief Operating Officer of Renault Groupe subsidiary AvtoVAZ in March 2008.

He joined Alstom Transport in 2009, where he was responsible for operations and performance and a Member of the Executive Committee. From 2014 to 2020, he was lndustrial Director of Groupe PSA.

Vincent was appointed Chief Executive Officer of ACC in September 2020.

Connect with Yann Vincent on LinkedIn.

You can subscribe to Ride: The Urban Mobility Podcast wherever you get your podcasts. Feel free to share it, like it, give it a rating, sign up to the Ride LinkedIn page, and check out our website, ridemobilitypodcast.com.

GUESTS: Lukas Neckermann, David Woessner, Olaf Sakkers

ABOUT THIS EPISODE

For a consumer, the best price is no price at all. After all, free is the magic number.

But we all know that nothing in life is ever really free. Free is always factored into the cost somewhere along the line. But promoting something as free hides that cost, and leads to a complacency that comes with consequences.

Free parking encourages us to use our cars. And free delivery prevents us thinking twice about buying something, especially if free returns are also part of the deal.

In the quest to go emission-free and carbon-free, is it possible to also enjoy the other things that we like to have for free?

After all, we all know there’s no such thing as a free lunch.

Ride caught up recently with future mobility investors David Woessner, of Future Of, and Olaf Sakkers, of Red Blue Capital, and Lukas Neckermann, the COO of Splyt, the mobility super app enabler.

We recorded this conversation at the end of an event and just managed to bring the discussion to a close before the stand we were using was dismantled around us.

REFERENCES

Here are links to support some of the comments made during the show:

• DW.com "Fast Fashion - Dumped in Chile's Atacama Desert"
• theguardian.com "Past the parcel: how the end of free returns will change the way we shop"
• CNBC "Why ‘free’ shipping isn’t free"
• thedrive.com "Zillow’s Satellite View Shows the Ghosts of Neighborhoods Erased By America’s Highways"
• fastcompany.com "America has eight parking spaces for every car. Here’s how cities are rethinking that land"
• "The high cost of free parking" (YouTube)

CONNECT WITH THE GUESTS

You can connect with the show's guests on LinkedIn by using these links: 

• David Woessner
• Olaf Sakkers 
• Lukas Neckermann 

You can subscribe to Ride: The Urban Mobility Podcast wherever you get your podcasts. Feel free to share it, like it, give it a rating, sign up to the Ride LinkedIn page, and check out our website, ridemobilitypodcast.com.

GUEST: Augustin Guilisasti, founder and CEO of Human Forest

ABOUT THIS EPISODE

If you’ve spent any time in London in the last couple of years, you’ll have seen green electric bikes bearing the name Human Forest. But it’s not an exclusively London thing – as well as increasing the size of its electric bike share fleet across London, the company has its sights set on other cities.

In this episode, we're joined by Agustin Guilisasti, founder and CEO of Human Forest – we talk about the Human Forest business model, the importance of sustainability, the company’s plans for growth, and why Agustin believes Human Forest is the "Spotify of micromobility."

Connect with Agustin on LinkedIn

You can subscribe to Ride: The Urban Mobility Podcast wherever you get your podcasts. Feel free to share it, like it, give it a rating, sign up to the Ride LinkedIn page, and check out our website, ridemobilitypodcast.com.

GUESTS: Stefan Krause, B-ON, and Mark Thomas, Ridecell

ABOUT THIS EPISODE

Improving the efficiency of urban mobility means improving not just the way we move people, but also the way we move goods – from the shipment of everything from domestic grocery deliveries to supermarket stock to online electronics orders, there are major efficiencies to be found. Some are simple, and involve management, practices and processes; others are more costly and complex, from connectivity and electrification to autonomous vehicle technology. 
We recently had the chance to speak to executives at two companies involved in improving commercial fleet efficiency – Stefan Krause, of B-ON, and Mark Thomas, of RideCell.

ABOUT THE GUESTS

Stefan Krause is CEO of B-ON – an electric package delivery vehicle company that grew out of StreetScooter.
Stefan's CV includes time as CFO at BMW Group - where he helped bring the BMW i3 to market - and CFO at Deutsche Bank, as well as senior roles at Faraday Future and Fisker, and founder of Canoo.

Reach out to Stefan on LinkedIn

Mark Thomas is EVP Marketing & Alliances at Ridecell. Based in the San Francisco Bay Area, Mark's automotive background is steeped in connectivity. Prior to Ridecell, Mark was at Cisco, Here, and Nokia.

Connect with Mark on LinkedIn

You can subscribe to Ride: The Urban Mobility Podcast wherever you get your podcasts. Feel free to share it, like it, give it a rating, sign up to the Ride LinkedIn page, and check out our website, ridemobilitypodcast.com.

GUEST: Hui Zhang, Group Vice President, Nio

ABOUT THIS EPISODE

As the established global automakers struggle to transition from the combustion engine to zero emission motoring, there's a growing number of well financed electric vehicle startups gaining ground in the EV marketplace, and among them, a number of Chinese automakers.

Chinese EV brands are now growing fast in China where the government's push on New Energy Vehicles has seen the domestic EV market grow exponentially.

The Ride podcast recently caught up with Hui Zhang, Group Vice President of Chinese EV start-up and battery swap champion, Nio.

You can subscribe to Ride: The Urban Mobility Podcast wherever you get your podcasts. Feel free to share it, like it, give it a rating, sign up to the Ride LinkedIn page, and check out our website, ridemobilitypodcast.com.

GUESTS: Andy Wilman, The Grand Tour; Scott Mansell, Driver61; Mat Watson, Carwow; Jack Carter, TikTok

ABOUT THIS EPISODE

In 2015, Top Gear was one of the most successful British television exports, YouTube seemed young and inexperienced, at just ten years old, and TikTok hadn’t even been released.

Seven years later, the media landscape looks very different, creating a new challenge for automakers and other providers of mobility: how can they best promote their products and grow or maintain brand awareness in the face of  today's rapidly-evolving media? What is the impact of alternative forms of mobility? And how do changes in vehicle technology affect marketing and promotion, as the roar of a combustion engine is replaced by the near-silent acceleration of an electric vehicle, and as the automakers turn their attention from the driver’s car to the driverless car?

This episode of Ride, produced in collaboration with Motor Industry Communicators Association (MICA), features Andy Wilman (The Grand Tour), Scott Mansell (Driver61), Mat Watson (Carwow), and Jack Carter (TikTok).

ABOUT THE GUESTS

Andy Wilman - Top Gear and The Grand Tour producer.  Andy boasts over 20 years’ experience at the pinnacle of bringing automotive content to a mass audience, from re-launching Top Gear on BBC TV in 2002 to executive producing The Grand Tour for Amazon Prime.

Mat Watson – the face of the Carwow YouTube channel - “the world’s biggest automotive channel” - which has led in blending car entertainment and vehicle sales.

Jack Carter – TikTok’s automotive lead explains how the platform is bringing automotive content to life for younger (and, increasingly, also less young) audiences.

Scott Mansell – motorsport content expert whose Driver61 YouTube channel has grown by 350,000 subscribers in a year and amassed 46,000,000 views.

You can subscribe to Ride: The Urban Mobility Podcast wherever you get your podcasts. Feel free to share it, like it, give it a rating, sign up to the Ride LinkedIn page, and check out our website, ridemobilitypodcast.com.