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Driving yourself or self-driving? – A look at mobility
Ines Imdahl
Opinions differ on attitudes towards cars and the automotive industry in Germany. While young people are demonstrating in front of the IAA, the majority of people are still suspicious of e-mobility and autonomous driving. And more sustainable mobility concepts around and beyond the automobile are developing only slowly despite the diesel scandal and climate trend. So what is preventing innovations from being brought to the road faster? Beyond costs and bureaucracy, psychological explanations offer a deeper insight.
The fear of e-mobility: driving yourself or becoming a danger?
Mobility even makes us afraid when there’s nothing solid, supportive, or immobile to hold on to. Completely detached from the earth, it becomes pure fear. The possibility of returning from Mars is crucial for making the journey even remotely desirable — at least for some.
For many, however, e-mobility is also linked to uneasy, anxious feelings. These often express themselves — though not exclusively — through rational rejections and technical debates. As with anything new and unfamiliar, we tend to experience a certain insecurity, which is often masked by seemingly rational arguments. That has always been the case.
In the early days, train travel was considered extremely hazardous to one’s health. People believed the body and mind simply couldn’t “keep up.” Some even feared that the speed of the steam locomotive (!) could literally tear a person apart from the inside.
And just like with the steam engine, we are still psychologically lagging behind when it comes to e-mobility. We don’t trust the journey. There aren’t enough “charging stations” — psychologically speaking, not enough immobile points, stopping places, or familiar (domestic) gas stations.
We fear getting lost, stuck, or stranded — and yes, this can still happen. But it happens most of all internally. Because factually or logistically, those stations could already be there. Tesla has had them for eight years.
Read here in the text by Ines Imdahl what the psychological view of e-mobility reveals.
