Smart data-harnessing for financial value in short-term hire electric car schemes

In the developed world, two distinct trends are emerging to shake-up the current dominance of privately-owned, combustion motor car transport. The first is the emergence of the electric powertrain for vehicles as an affordable and massmarketed means of transport. This carries with it the potential to address many of the immediate shortcomings of the current paradigm, especially CO2 emissions, air and noise pollution. The second is the rise of new hire models of car ownership - the concept of paying for the use of a car as and when you need it. This carries with it the potential to address many of the existing issues: outlay-induced car use, residential parking and social division. On a similar timescale, we are witnessing the rise of smart technologies and smart cities, concepts that use data about the state of a system or elements of it to create value. There have been relatively few examples of schemes that have combined the electric and hire-model concepts, despite the huge potential for synergy. Indeed, the majority is against them on both counts - cars are predominantly privately-owned and driven by internal combustion engines. Nevertheless, there is significant potential for this to change over the coming years.