Ford Motor Company, at the ongoing Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, has announced the Ford Smart Mobility plan that includes a unique pilot project to be started in India called ‘Share Car’. The pilot project will first begin in the IT capital of the country, Bangalore, and would aim to create a structure for easy vehicle sharing among small communities.
This would be a part of 25 global mobility experiments, which together make up the Ford Smart Mobility plan. Out of these 25 projects, eight would be carried out in North America, nine in Europe and Africa, seven in Asia, and one in South America. Each of these experiments has been designed to find out what customers will want and need from car makers in tomorrow’s transportation ecosystem. Fourteen of these experiments are going to be directly looked after by Ford, while 11 are a part of the manufacturer’s Innovative Mobility Challenge Series. For the series, the company invited innovators and developers from around the world to create solutions for specific mobility challenges being faced in North America, South America, Portugal, Africa, India, China, England and Australia.
Talking about India, the Share Car project in Bangalore will entail Ford testing the car-sharing concept among small groups such as co-workers, apartment dwellers, families, etc., where multiple drivers would be sharing one car. This would allow people to get the benefit of owning a car and reaping its benefits without actually owning one. Researchers, in collaboration with Zoomcar, intend to chalk out a plan for vehicle scheduling and managing ownership.
Finding technology-driven solutions to identify open parking spaces in urban areas, better ways to navigate crowded cities, and the use of navigation and other tools to help people gain access to medical care in remote areas are the key motives behind this move by the company.
Related: Ford Launches Automotive Student Service Educational Training (ASSET) in Mumbai
