Reinventing the Automobile

Reinventing the Automobile
Name	Reinventing the Automobile
Author	William J. Mitchell, Christopher E. Borroni-Bird, Lawrence D. Burns
Subject	Automotive industry, Sustainable transport, Urban planning
Publisher	MIT Press
Pub date	2010
Pages	240
Isbn	978-0-262-01382-6

Reinventing the Automobile. This influential 2010 treatise, authored by William J. Mitchell, Christopher E. Borroni-Bird, and Lawrence D. Burns, presents a radical vision for the future of personal urban mobility. It argues for a fundamental shift from traditional internal combustion engine vehicles to lightweight, electric, and networked automobiles. The work synthesizes concepts from MIT's Media Lab and General Motors' Advanced Technology Vehicles projects, proposing a systemic integration of vehicle design, smart grid energy systems, and intelligent transportation systems.

Historical Context and Predecessors

The book's arguments emerged from a century of automotive evolution dominated by companies like Ford Motor Company and Toyota, and seminal events like the 1973 oil crisis. It builds upon earlier critiques of auto-centric culture found in works like Jane Jacobs's The Death and Life of Great American Cities and the environmental advocacy of Rachel Carson. The vision was also preceded by experimental vehicle programs, including the General Motors EV1 and the DARPA Grand Challenge, which spurred autonomous vehicle research. The authors' perspectives were shaped by their experiences at institutions like the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and General Motors, during a period of rising concern over climate change and peak oil.

Technological Foundations

The proposed reinvention rests on three interconnected technological pillars: electric propulsion, vehicle connectivity, and autonomous driving. It advocates for vehicles using advanced battery or hydrogen fuel cell systems, as pioneered by companies like Tesla, Inc. and Ballard Power Systems. A core innovation is the drive-by-wire and skateboard chassis architecture, exemplified by concepts like General Motors' AUTOnomy. This enables new body designs and integrates sensors for V2X communication within a broader IoT ecosystem, relying on advancements from Google's Waymo and Mobileye projects.

Design and Manufacturing Innovations

Moving from the Ford Model T assembly line, the book envisions a modular manufacturing paradigm. The separable skateboard chassis containing all propulsion and control systems allows for interchangeable, lightweight carbon fiber body shells. This approach draws from aerospace practices at Boeing and the Apple Inc. model of product personalization. It suggests distributed, smaller-scale assembly plants, reducing the scale of traditional Detroit-style factories and enabling more localized production, akin to methods explored in Silicon Valley tech manufacturing.

Societal and Environmental Impact

The authors project significant reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, particularly when paired with a renewable energy smart grid. By reducing urban sprawl and reclaiming space from parking lots and Interstate Highway System infrastructure, cities could be redesigned for pedestrians and cyclists, echoing the goals of Jan Gehl. The integration with public transport networks like the London Underground or Tokyo Metro could create seamless mobility as a service systems, potentially decreasing traffic fatalities and improving air quality in megacities like Beijing and Los Angeles.

Economic and Market Transformation

This shift disrupts the traditional automotive industry value chain, challenging the dominance of Volkswagen Group and Toyota Motor Corporation. New revenue models emerge, emphasizing mobility services over vehicle ownership, as seen with the rise of Uber and Zipcar. It creates opportunities for NVIDIA in artificial intelligence processors and Qualcomm in telecommunications, while posing existential threats to supply chain industries built around the internal combustion engine, such as Bosch and ZF Friedrichshafen. The BEV market growth, accelerated by policies like the California Air Resources Board mandates, exemplifies this transformation.

Future Directions and Challenges

Realizing this vision faces hurdles including the high cost of solid-state battery technology, the need for massive charging station infrastructure akin to the Interstate Highway System build-out, and complex cybersecurity risks. Regulatory frameworks by bodies like the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and the European Union must evolve to govern autonomous vehicles. Competing visions from Elon Musk's Tesla, Inc. and legacy OEMs continue to shape the landscape, while the ultimate success depends on systemic integration with smart city initiatives in places like Songdo International Business District and Masdar City.

Category:2010 non-fiction books Category:Automotive books Category:Urban planning books