We are joined by Ben Pullen, Co-Founder & CEO of Generation.e. Ben has spent most of his entire career in sustainable energy and mobility. In 2015 he created Generation.e with a mission to inspire transformation to smarter mobility. Ben shares with us his journey from sustainable energy to sustainable mobility, the interaction between renewable energy and electrification, the realistic future of mobility, and how the region is adapting to the rise of smarter, seamless, and shared mobility.
Ben kicks off the episode sharing with us how his journey has taken him from working with sustainable energy to sustainable mobility. He speaks to us about the natural interaction between renewable energy and the electrification and how it was this realisation that led him into the mobility space. Having completed his Masters in Energy Management, Ben has been exposed to players in natural gas and oil as well as renewable technology; he shares with us how the two have vastly different approaches to change within the industry.
Ben goes on to give us an insight into the mobility differences that differentiate major cities all over the world as well as the challenges that unite them; such as the impact of mobility on health and the environment.
"The end goal cannot be to get everyone into an electric car." – Ben Pullen, Co-Founder and CEO of Generation.e
The “Realistic” Future of Mobility
We also talk about the realistic future of mobility. Ben touches on the idea of electrification being ‘the silver bullet’ and that the end goal cannot be to get everyone into an electric car. His insight into how electric cars are making consumers more conscious of the source of their energy is worth noting. Speaking on infrastructure, we talk about the different challenges cities will face when accommodating sustainable mobility solutions. Not to mention the changes in ageing regulation that we need to overcome. Further the conversation on infrastructure, Ben shares his opinion on car sharing vs car ownership & how the popularity of the model is a good indication of where the future of individual mobility is headed. Finally, we touch on the next decade of mobility, Expo 2020, and Ben’s predictions. As we move into a ‘new era’ of mobility, Ben feels the way in which the car will interact with the world around it will fundamentally change; and that we may very well be at the end of a chapter in the story of mobility.