The automobile industry is growing at a staggering rate. According to Cars Guide, the world is projected to surpass the 1.4 billion mark of vehicles on the street in the next few years. The data estimates the doubling of the number to 2.8 billion cars on the planet by the year 2036. This is why the automobile industry must step up its efforts in significantly reducing carbon emissions.
- Electric Vehicle Transition
There are currently few electric vehicles in the world. Even though America has increased the total number of registered electric cars from fewer than 300,000 in 2016 to more than 1.1 million last year, there’s still room for progress.
Electric cars constitute a significant part of attaining clean mobility goals; EVs produce fewer air pollutants and greenhouse gasses during their lifespan than fossil-fuelled cars. In addition, electric vehicles do not directly create carbon emissions. Just one electric vehicle reduces emissions by 1.5 million grams of C02 on average over a year.
Some people have reservations about the production of electric vehicles. This is because electric cars are produced from burning fossil fuels, which basically invalidates the environmental benefits of no tailpipe emissions.
The EU conducted a study in tandem with these claims and stated that even though electricity generated does stem from oil, it would still only produce two-thirds of the energy released from a petrol car. This isn’t the radical change we wanted, but it is undoubtedly an improvement.
Tesla, Volkswagen, and Chinese manufacturer SAIC are leading the way in the production of electric cars. The more companies focus on producing electric vehicles, the less time it takes to attain clean mobility.
- Look Beyond Production
To reduce the carbon footprint of the automobile industry, manufacturers need to look beyond the production process and focus on the end-of-life phases of the vehicle, enhance fuel efficiency, lessen SOx, NOx, CO2 to reduce emissions to the barest minimum. They must also extend the lifespan of cars and their components and retrieve, reprocess and reuse metals as well as other car parts.
Manufacturers need to work with companies that supply high quality automotive fasteners and other parts that last longer, can extend the life of a vehicle. Such practices can extend a vehicle lifespan. It’s also important to focus on processes to reduce harmful emissions in the short term while the industry moves over to vehicles powered by renewables.
- Incorporating AI into Production
Virtual representation and AI tools help auto producers swap sustainability and commercial efficiency. AI tools have already shifted the concept of maintenance from preventive to predictive one. With AI, manufacturers and drivers don’t have to wait until a fault occurs to fix cars.
AI helps supply foresight for car maintenance by automatically diagnosing asset conditions from images taken to suggest maintenance activities. This enhances asset performance and decreases cost and downtime. It’s a win-win situation for all the parties involved.
Additionally, AI tools are crucial for working on the ‘circularity roadmaps’ of the Circular Cars Initiative, the private-public collaboration to improve the lifespan of vehicles. AI-driven systems utilize current data from the environment to make sure that cars are designed, manufactured, and supplied for the recycling industry.
- Renewable Components
Swapping internal fuel-consuming engines with battery and cell electric components will not solve the carbon problem by itself. This is due to the fact that the resource-intensive creation of electric vehicle systems neutralizes the stable benefit of utilization. Environmental balance can only be sustained by bettering material efficiency, removing garbage during manufacturing, and encouraging beneficial practices to conserve resources.
Automakers have to embrace design practices tailored after the Circular Cars Initiative and increase the use of renewable and recyclable components for manufacturing new cars. Concurrently, web-based learning programs can coach engineers to understand direct and direct emissions better and make better decisions by using algorithms to forecast their effects on the environment.
Analytical tools would also enable production teams to add carbon objectives and track live metrics, whether from the factory floor or a one-off luxury vehicle.
- Alternative Refueling Stations
The availability of gas stations is one of the significant contributors to the growth of passenger vehicles on the road. Therefore, automobile manufacturers need to build a matching network of power charging locations to promote the mass acceptance of green energy solutions.
Partnership agreements must also be incorporated to build an all-inclusive society for sharing expertise, coming up with the best methods for managing and disposing of waste, and facilitating the collaborative economy.
- Carbon-neutral Supply Chain
A switch to carbon-free vehicles needs a carbon-neutral logistics supply chain. Together with decreasing fuel consumption, energy usage for manufacturing, tailpipe emissions, and the delivery of automobiles and spare parts must also be ecologically friendly.
Producers need to urge delivery partners, car transporters, and cargo shipping agents to turn to the usage of cleaner fuels and decrease airborne particles from the cargo fleet.
Conclusion
The automobile industry has to spearhead the clean mobility movement. It should promote decarburization geared towards achieving a carbon-free environment while building the groundwork to reduce the effects of vehicles on the environment during their lifespan. Planned
investments in decarbonization and strategic partnerships will create the future of transport and automobiles