This article is an ’embellishment’ of a post I made today on a forum elsewhere. It starts with the following quoted post:
There’s a rumour that the WEF (World Economic Forum) have said that people wont be allowed to own cars, if its true i wonder how long it will take their minions in various governments to make it law?
They may not need to make it ‘law’, it will just become impossible to buy a car outright.
As I see things panning out, there is already an ‘aim’ to stop the sale of new petrol/diesel engine vehicles by 2035-2040.
Vehicle manufacturers are already developing and selling electric cars, but for most people they are unaffordable. Many manufacturers seem to be scaling back production of petrol/diesel models already, so even the cost of these will start to increase.
There is still a buoyant ‘second-hand’ car market, with plenty of ‘fairly-new’ vehicles available owing to people switching to electric models.
The stickler now though is the cost of the fuel, while prices at the pumps appear to be stabilising and even dropping, they are still much higher than they have ever been. Cheap fuel is a thing of the past.
The continuing “cost of living crisis” will ensure that many people won’t be able to afford to buy any new electric vehicle, so what will get rolled out is the ‘long-term rent’ type of agreement, not too far from the current financing/leasing models already in existence. The difference being you never actually get to ‘own’ the vehicle outright, and thus have an ‘asset’ that you can sell on at a later date.
“You’ll own nothing and you’ll be happy”
Everything you do have is merely ‘rented’ or ‘leased’. For which you pay a princely monthly amount. “Only £300 a month!” or something appealing like that.
A subscription-based service model. There may even actually be some benefits, for example if your vehicle breaks down or suffers some mechanical failure, rather than have to take it to a garage for repair which could see it off the road for some time, it could just be exchanged for another one. After all, its not ‘your’ car, your service subscription just ‘allows’ you personal exclusive use of a vehicle. (Not just any particular one)
“xxx-as-a-service” is a buzz-phrase that has risen to prominence over the last few years, and the latest one I came across is “Electric transport as a service (ETaaS)”
I may have mentioned before about electric buses, and how Coventry is set to become an “all-electric bus city” by 2025.
Bus operator National Express Coventry is currently taking delivery of up to 130 brand new electric vehicles, all of which should be in service by early next year.
What I since learned is that National Express are not buying these vehicles themselves, they are being bought by a company called Zenobe, who will also be providing charging infrastructure to be installed at the garage.
Now fleet operators can also enjoy the benefits and flexibility of the ‘as a service’ model.
With ETaaS we’re able to finance and manage complete solutions including new vehicles, onboard battery replacement, charging and grid infrastructure, a depot second-life battery system, unique software to optimise charging, parts – and full operational support.
https://www.zenobe.com/electric-fleets/
I don’t know the figures, but essentially National Express will be paying Zenobe a regular sum of money, and in return they get to use vehicles and charging infrastructure which are owned by Zenobe. The vehicles never belong to the bus company.
This kind of ‘service model’ could well be rolled out across the board, whether it truck or light van fleets, or even company car fleets. Even down to individual car owners.
I think if someone were to ‘look deeper’ into this Zenobe company, you’ll likely find they are backed by enormous hedge-fund investors.
Imagine if you will, a future where the majority of vehicles on our roads, be they buses, coaches, vans, trucks or cars, are all owned by a handful of companies, who in return for a weekly, monthly or even annual ‘subscription fee’, allow you to utilise them.
“You’ll own nothing and you’ll be happy” – that car parked on your driveway is not ‘yours’, it is merely something you are permitted to have and use, as long as you keep paying your service subscription.
And of course that may be appealing to many people, especially those who can’t afford to buy a vehicle ‘outright’. The other option would be to just ‘hire’ a car, as and when you needed it.
For me personally, this doesn’t really matter, as I don’t drive and don’t have a driving licence, so I’m never going to own a car and have it as my “pride and joy”. But I do sympathise with those who do.
Because some people do like the idea of owning a vehicle that is ‘theirs’. In much the same way anyone would like to own a home that was ‘theirs’.
But this is the future that people are “sleepwalking” into, because they are allowing this to happen.
