Uber has disrupted the transportation industry, but it may not dominate the roads of tomorrow thanks to BMW’s recent innovations.
Dara Khosrowshahi, Uber CEO, announced plans for Uber to become the “Amazon of transportation,” but BMW may interrupt these plans with their own services and vehicles. As Uber becomes more than a carpooling app, the German automakers are becoming more than a manufacturer.
BMW announced a slew of projects to compete with Uber in 2019, and since then, both companies have been significant signs of progress.
But who is in the lead, and why does it matter for BMW?
Doing It All
What does being the Amazon of transportation mean? It means being a service that does it all, from ferrying people around to delivering food to making the vehicles of the future. It’s a bid to get into every aspect of transportation.
Though it began as a ride-sharing app, Uber now offers a variety of services like Uber Eats, a food delivery system, and Uber Freight, an app that matches carriers and shippers.
BMW has announced competitive offerings with the help of auto company Daimler. The joint venture includes things like Reach Now, a mobility solution that provides ride shares, bike rentals and public transportation planning.
BMW and Daimler’s transportation services compete directly with Uber, who’s also been incorporating more than just cars into their offerings. While the details of their approaches may differ, both companies are looking to provide a variety of transportation solutions to customers.
The Race for Driverless Transportation
BMW and Uber are looking into more than just connecting drivers with passengers. Both are joining the race to put safe, efficient driverless cars on the road.
Uber’s shaky acquisition of self-driving vehicle company Otto shows they’re serious about pursuing driverless technology. But they’re not alone. BMW hopes to release its self-driving electric car, the iNext, in 2021.
At the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) this year, BMW also showed off a concept for a driverless vehicle interior, focusing on maximizing passenger comfort. In line with this philosophy of relaxation, they also premiered the i3 Urban Suite, a modified BMW i3 that allows passengers to lounge in a hotel-like experience. The Urban Suite needs a human driver for now, but the cabin arrangement could easily apply to a driverless car as well.
Uber has begun testing driverless vehicles in Washington, D.C. earlier this year. For now, they will be in manual mode, driven by a person. But they hope the data collected by these tests will bring them closer to operational self-driving vehicles.
Who’s Ahead?
Both Uber and BMW are running towards big goals in the future of transportation. The companies are not just pursuing a more varied array of services, but more advanced technology as well. The determining factor in who emerges as the new king of the road may be whoever can make these technologies a practical reality first.
Uber is quite literally reaching for the skies, as it unveiled a concept for a flying taxi at CES 2020. Working prototypes won’t be ready until 2023, and after that, it’s unsure when they will be available to the general public.
BMW’s focus remains on the ground, with much of their CES concepts aiming to provide passengers with a more enjoyable ride, with or without a human driver.
Features like their smart windshield will require a 5G connection, but this isn’t a far-off reality. BMW’s iNext, set to release next year, will support 5G connectivity.
Both companies’ concepts are lofty, and both seem to be making strides in achieving them. But BMW looks closer to bringing their new technology to the road, with the iNext coming out soon while Uber has yet to announce a release date for its self-driving cars.
As for their current transportation solutions, BMW’s Reach Now already has more than 6 million users, so they may soon catch up with Uber in the ride-sharing field.
If Uber doesn’t show significant progress in the coming years, BMW might beat them to their goal of being the Amazon of transportation.