Inaugural report details the emerging sustainability opportunities and challenges facing the global mobility industry on land, in the air, on the sea, and in space
SANTA MONICA, Calif., Feb. 07, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — UP.Partners, a mobility focused investment firm, released its inaugural Moving World Report: 2023 Macro and Micro Trends in Mobility. The 125 slide data-driven report draws evidence from dozens of interviews and hundreds of research studies to explore the multiplicity of important innovations and market dynamics impacting the movement of people and goods on the ground, in the air, at sea, and in space.
Some of the critical takeaways from the report include:
Investment: mobility funding has outpaced most tech sectors
- Mobility venture capital (VC) has seen a 30X increase in funding since 2013
- $130B allocated out of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) towards batteries & renewables, clean transportation, and hydrogen – likely to ignite significant innovation in the domestic US mobility ecosystem
- Europe’s proposed Green Deal Industrial Plan could dwarf the IRA’s investment in energy security and climate change ($369B) with over $1T allocated to making European continent net zero by 2050, leading with mobility
- Last mile and EVs have made up almost 50% of the dollars deployed since 2020 in mobility VC
- 12% of all VC over the last 10 years went to mobility
- Mobility tech stocks have exhibited more volatility than broader markets during the market correction in 2022, likely an artifact of the recent SPAC bubble
Environmental: mobility has become the most important climate segment
- Mobility represents 37% of U.S. CO2 emissions, the largest of any sector, with ground transportation representing 78% of that total, sea transportation at 11%, air transportation at 10%, and rail at just 1%
- 38% of climate tech/sustainability related investment dollars were made in mobility related companies
Batteries: shortages of battery raw materials will impact carmakers’ ability to meet EV targets — putting EV mandates in conflict with manufacturing reality
- Lithium price index went up almost 800% from 2020-2022
- Battery demand expected to increase by 900% by 2030
- The massive supply/demand dislocation for lithium, cobalt, and nickel is likely to increase the cost of EVs to consumers
- For the first time in 12 years, battery prices are going up per kWh, even though cell energy density is improving
- With current EV mandates, the U.S. is facing an existential national security energy risk by not establishing firm battery supply before pivoting market to 100% EVs
- U.S. electrical grid is not well prepared to take on the additional electric load of EVs at scale, at least in states that transitioned rapidly to renewable energy — if every car in California were electric today, electricity consumption would likely increase by 47%
Aviation: radical innovation is required to reverse aviation CO2 emissions trend
- Cargo drones flew 192% more drone delivery flights in 2022 compared to 2021
- 65,000 pilot shortage is expected by 2030 globally, a massive shortage that could cripple airlines and aircraft manufacturers, particularly regional airlines
- Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) is the only near term rational pathway to making a real dent in aviation CO2 emissions in the next 10 – 15 years
- Over the long-term, hydrogen offers the most impactful potential strategy for decarbonizing aviation
Space: hypersonic travel and off-planet logistics are coming quickly
- SpaceX Starship will “change the game,” reducing the cost of getting a kilogram to orbit by orders of magnitude
- More than a dozen companies are pursuing hypersonic jets, with the war in Ukraine helping accelerate development of dual use technologies
- With NASA project Artemis, a permanent human presence on the Moon is just on the horizon
The insights in The Moving World Report may help startup founders, investors, regulators, corporations, and decision-makers successfully navigate these fundamental forces and better prepare for the likely futures of the moving world.
“Converging exponential technologies are disrupting aviation, EV adoption is accelerating at rapid pace, and electric 2- and 3-wheelers are displacing 1 million barrels of oil a day. Yet, the mobility sector has emerged as the largest CO2 contributor in the U.S. As many opportunities as there are in this rapidly transforming industry, there are even more challenges to be addressed,” said Cyrus Sigari, Co-Founder and Managing Partner of UP.Partners. “Transforming the moving world by moving people and goods cleaner, faster, safer, and at lower costs on the land, in the air, on the sea, and in space is a shared mission among governments, investors, and entrepreneurs alike. It is our hope that industry leaders and their teams will use the Moving World Report as a guide to confront the challenges and unlock the opportunities that lie ahead.”
About UP.Partners
UP.Partners is Transforming the Moving World by building and investing in companies that move people and goods cleaner, faster, safer, and at lower cost — on the ground, in the air, on the sea, and in space. The multi-strategy firm achieves this goal through its unique and virtuous ecosystem encompassing UP.Ventures, UP.Labs, and UP.Summit. UP.Ventures invests in companies and technologies to enable the future of mobility, working with some of the world’s most innovative investors and entrepreneurs. With flagship launch partner Porsche, UP.Labs is a first-of-its-kind venture lab, partnering with the world’s largest corporations to identify the most pressing challenges that they, and broader society, face. The UP.Summit is an invitation-only experience co-hosted with Tom and Steuart Walton and Ross Perot Jr., in Bentonville, AR and Dallas/Ft. Worth, TX respectively, bringing together the world’s most innovative minds to rethink the future of transportation. For more information, visit www.UP.partners or follow on Twitter @UpPartnersVC or LinkedIn.
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