Mobility

I've been delaying the new car decision over and over again but it was getting obvious that I needed to do something. My old car was 12 years old, the repairs were picking up and the clock was ticking. But even with the pressure on, there were still about million reasons for the delay. Well, more like three or four, but they felt like a million.A) Cost. A car is one of the most expensive things you can own, while at the same time it is one of the least used items. Most cars spend over 90% parked. They are an expensive resource that isn't getting any serious use.  In my case that's even more true than for most others. My commute is 10 steps long. While I have several longer drives during the year that rack up quite a few kilometers, most of the short distance driving is for shopping and

Let me put on my prediction hat for a minute. Over the next 10 years, our mobility will see profound changes. We will not own cars anymore. Instead, we will call a car, it will arrive and take us to where we want to go, then it will go on to do something else. In case we own a car, we might opt to let it earn money for us while we don't use it. Everything that's going on today points to that future. And to a lot more.There are two of the main drivers behind what I expect to come:Electrification - We are in the middle of a dramatic infrastructure ramp-up, charging networks expand their number of stations, car manufacturers are building networks, some interoperability efforts are in the making. Even the die-hard petrol-heads are coming around. Just one example: Porsche who poo-poo-...

Es ist wieder die Zeit im Jahr, wo ich zum Telefon greife, meine KFZ-Versicherung anrufe und folgenden Satz sage: “Hallo, ich würde gerne mal mit ihnen über meinen Versicherungsvertrag gehen und schauen, ob es da noch irgend welche Einsparmöglichkeiten gibt." Da ich meinen Vertrag auf den 1. Oktober kündigen kann, haben die Versicherungen tatsächlich Interesse, mich als Kunden zu halten und sind deshalb immer sehr kooperativ. Dieses Jahr war es nicht wirklich viel, aber in vergangenen Jahren sind da durchaus mal Einsparungen von 100 und mehr Euro pro Jahr raus gepurzelt. Der Anruf dauert 5 Minuten und rechnet sich fast immer.