James Hodgson
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James Hodgson In The News
Axios Twin Cities (2024-04-02)
Replicating 'the network effect.' Uber and Lyft connect huge pools of riders with huge pools of drivers. Upstart rideshare companies have historically struggled to retain drivers without the same ability to guarantee work for them, said ABI Research analyst James Hodgson.
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CNBC (2024-03-23)
To be sure, there can be valid reasons to collect driver and car data for safety and functionality purposes, and some essential services, such as emergency and security-related data sharing, may be difficult or impossible to opt out of. Predictive maintenance is among the reasons for more data sharing, allowing manufacturers to determine that a part used in its fleet is failing sooner than expected in order to issue a recall, said James Hodgson, smart mobility and automotive research director at global technology intelligence firm ABI Research.
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Assembly (2024-03-18)
According to ABI Research, 69 percent of all new passenger vehicles will have an SAE driving automation level of 2+ or higher by the end of this decade. The technology will enable people to drive more safely, take on specific tasks on the driver’s behalf or ultimately replace drivers through the automation of the entire driving process.
“Different autonomous applications vary in features and the level of driver involvement,” says James Hodgson, smart mobility and automotive research director at ABI Research. “Some demand constant supervision, while others permit manual, visual or cognitive disengagement.
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Axios (2024-03-14)
Globally, alternative ride-hailers have struggled to differentiate themselves from Uber and Lyft, said James Hodgson of the global tech intelligence firm ABI Research.
Pre-COVID, some companies tried undercutting Uber or Lyft's prices or paying drivers extra. Hodgson said these "land grabs" proved unsustainable.
The pandemic made ride-sharing companies much more reliant on the delivery arms of their businesses, which adds yet another barrier to entry for a would-be challenger.
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Repairer Driven News (2024-02-07)
ABI’s latest research paper, “A Scalable Approach to ADAS and Autonomous Driving,” states that 69.3% will be so equipped.
“Different autonomous applications vary in features and the level of driver involvement,” said James Hodgson, ABI Research smart mobility and automotive research director and author of the whitepaper, in a news release. “Some demand constant supervision, while others permit manual, visual, or cognitive disengagement.
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Futuretransport-News (2023-10-09)
In his keynote session entitled, ‘V2X in 2023: Progress, Challenges and Recommendations,’ James Hodgson, Research Director at ABI Research, acknowledged that although Volkswagen took the lead in equipping volume models such as the Golf with the IEEE 802.11p standard to enable wireless communication between cars and infrastructure, other OEMs in Europe have not followed suit.
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AZ Central (2023-04-29)
“Causing a traffic jam will land you in the press, causing injury (or) death will land you in court,” James Hodgson, principal analyst with ABI Research who studies the autonomous vehicle industry, said in an email.
Hodgson said once the confidence in a situation falls below the acceptable threshold, or if there is any doubt in the perception system identifying any pieces of the surroundings, the vehicle will come to a “safe state” as quickly as possible. That safe state can mean pulling over to the side or simply stopping in traffic.
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Canadian Auto Dealer (2023-03-13)
To help governments and industry in achieving these goals, ABI Research has launched a new Electric Vehicle research service to provide automotive industry players, innovators, and suppliers with actionable research and strategic guidance to tap into this rapidly expanding industry.
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Smart Cities World (2022-08-08)
Applications like lane centring, localisation, and location-enriched sensor fusion will see automotive digital maps expand out of the infotainment domain, creating a new “sustained market opportunity” for digital map suppliers in the automotive industry, ABI reports.
“The uptake of digital maps outside of navigation and route guidance has been limited to date, so the European ISA mandate is an important catalyst for the location intelligence industry,” said James Hodgson, smart mobility, and automotive principal analyst at ABI Research.
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Enterprise IoT Insights (2022-08-08)
The report also forecasts that over 47 million vehicles in circulation by 2027 will rely on digital maps to underpin active safety or autonomous driving applications. The report noted that digital maps are moving out of “infotainment” into uses including lane centering, localization and location-enriched sensor fusion.
“The uptake of digital maps outside of navigation and route guidance has been limited to date, so the European ISA mandate is an important catalyst for the location intelligence industry,” said James Hodgson, smart mobility and automotive principal analyst at ABI Research. “Future maps for autonomous vehicles will be quite different from legacy maps, in terms of their attribution, accuracy, and time to reflect reality requirements. Building and maintaining these maps will require a radically different curation approach, defined by crowdsourcing and automation of the pipeline.”
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The Detroit Bureau (2022-08-04)
The uptake of digital maps outside of navigation and route guidance has been limited to date, so the European ISA mandate is an important catalyst for the location intelligence industry,” said James Hodgson, Smart Mobility & Automotive Principal Analyst at ABI Research.
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Politico (2021-12-27)
The technology in a new car today is already years out of date when it arrives at the dealer’s lot, said James Hodgson, an autonomous vehicles analyst with ABI Research, while the pace of connectivity — and consumers’ desires for favorite devices — moves much faster
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Readers Digest (2021-11-08)
James Hodgson, industry analyst at ABI Research, argues that driver-monitoring technology will eventually become as common as seat belts. “Their growth will be very much tied to the growth of semi-autonomous vehicles,” he explains. James estimates that by 2026, there will be around 17.5m semi-autonomous and autonomous cars produced with this technology each year.
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The Boston Globe (2021-08-30)
James Hodgson, principal analyst for smart transportation at ABI Research, warned that beginning a new car company from scratch is “phenomenally difficult.”
“There’s a good reason we’ve had more or less the same automotive brands for the past hundred years,” he said.
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The Telegraph (2021-01-09)
James Hodgson, leading smart mobility research at ABI Research, argues that the geography of a market is crucial context when debating the merits of the technology. In the UK and Europe, range anxiety is an “irrational” consumer worry that has been sensationalised in the first place, he says.
“The vast majority of trips could be fulfilled by a very modest battery range that you could get from a very inexpensive electric vehicle,” he says. “It’s only for those extraordinary trips where domestic charging couldn’t fulfil the need.”
“There’s a lot of investment and learning in the consumer goods market and that is being transplanted into the automotive market so you can provide better life cycles with less degradation, and the ability to offer longer range on a single charge,” Hodgson says.
“Once you can solve those problems then the need for battery-as-a-service becomes less clear”.
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Assembly Magazine (2021-01-06)
OYSTER BAY, NY—After years of hype and hoopla, 2021 may finally be the year that electric vehicles go mainstream. According to a recent report by ABI Research, the year ahead will kickstart a decade of growing EV adoption. The tech market advisory firm predicts that EV sales will “move from a rounding error of total new vehicle shipments to over a quarter of new vehicles shipping in 2030.”
“This transition from niche to mainstream will be built on the introduction of low-cost EV models that satisfy the typical mileage requirements at an acceptable price point,” says James Hodgson, smart mobility and automotive principal analyst at ABI Research. “As EV owners shift from the legacy of environmentally conscious, enthusiastic technology-first adopters to more typical automotive consumers, OEMs will need to develop more innovative approaches to the life cycle management of EVs.
“Smart charging technologies, support for occasional DC fast charging, and battery management will be critical in supporting mainstream consumers in their transition from ICEs to EV ownership,” claims Hodgson.
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Forbes (2021-01-05)
“This transition from niche to mainstream will be built on the introduction of low-cost EV (electric vehicle) models that satisfy the typical mileage requirements at an acceptable price point.” said James Hodgson, analyst at ABI Research of Oyster Bay, New York, in a report. “As EV owners shift from the legacy of environmentally conscious, enthusiastic technology first adopters to more typical automotive consumers, (manufacturers) will need to develop more innovative approaches to the life cycle management of EVs,” Hodgson said.
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CNet (2021-01-04)
Starting in 2021, ABI Research said EVs will start to gain traction in the market, largely driven by more affordable models scheduled to start rolling into dealerships throughout this year. By the end of this decade, EVs may make up a quarter of all new vehicles shipped. If the trajectory pans out, it would be a remarkable shift for the industry.
But, automakers can fumble things, according to James Hodgson, smart mobility and automotive principal analyst at ABI Research. EV buyers are traditionally the "first adopter" crowd, eager to get the latest technology first, or they're environmentally conscious. As electric cars move into the mainstream and automakers start providing more options, Hodgson said it will be on those companies to "develop more innovative approaches" to not only put buyers in an EV, but show them it's just as good as their gasoline-powered car of the past (or it might even be better).
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Tech Channel (2021-01-01)
As EV owners shift from the legacy of environmentally conscious, James Hodgson, Principal Analyst for Smart Mobility and Automotive at ABI Research, said that enthusiastic technology first adopters to more typical automotive consumers and OEMs will need to develop more innovative approaches to the life cycle management of EVs.
Models slated to be introduced to market include the Skoda Enyaq iV, delivering a 316-mile range with a starting price of $41,139 and the SEAT Cupra el-Born delivering a 310-mile range.
Both models demonstrate the spread of VW’s modular electric drive matrix (MEB) EV-specific platform throughout VW’s brands.
Although EVs still command a cost premium over Internal Combustion Engine (ICE) equivalents, Hodgson said that high-volume models, such as those based on the MEB platform, the Nissan Leaf, Hyundai IONIQ electric, and the Tesla Model 3 will be key to making EVs a viable option for the typical consumer.
“For success in 2021, especially after a very challenging 2020, one must understand fundamental trends early, and take a view on those trends that are buoyed by hyperbole and those that are sure to be uncomfortable realities. Now is the time to double down on the right technology investment,” Stuart Carlaw, Chief Research Officer at ABI Research, said.
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Traffic Technology Today (2020-12-29)
The first half of 2020 saw a dramatic drop in demand for personal mobility, as lockdown measures introduced by governments around the world dramatically affected the types and frequency of journeys made, according to new figures released by ABI Research.
Following robust growth of 14% in 2019, the ride-hailing market has faced its first significant disruption this year, with strict controls on personal mobility, combined with a growing concern over shared spaces resulting in a contraction of over 59% in 1H 2020.
“While it might have been expected that growing consumer concerns around shared spaces would push them back into privately owned cars, this has done little to offset the collapse in new vehicle sales. With the near-total disruption of the bricks and mortar retail channel for new vehicles further compounded by a worsening macroeconomic situation it’s a bleak outlook going into 2021,” says James Hodgson, principal analyst at ABI Research
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TU Automotive (2020-09-21)
It explains why dedicated security hardware is welcomed by premium automakers with their softer cost limits while it’s not easily coming down to the mass market. “Most OEMs and suppliers I was engaged with were generally happy with software-based solutions,” says James Hodgson, principal analyst at ABI Research.
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IEEE Power Electronics (2020-03-06)
The ongoing improvements in battery technologies will pave the way for an #EV installed base of 100 million #vehicles by 2028, J
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NPR Marketplace (2019-12-06)
“Trying to demonstrate and put out an argument that says, ‘Look, actually, when you look at the figures, we are very safe service that you can use relative to other alternatives,’” Hodgson said.
But there isn’t a lot of data available to make that kind of comparison. Uber now has the information to say that reports of sexual assault on its platform dropped 16% in a year. With this insight, Uber can argue it is proactively making itself a safer ride hailing option, Hodgson said.
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Entrepreneur (2019-10-08)
In 2018, nearly 22 billion ridehailing trips were completed worldwide, and in 2019, that number is expected to be 28 billion, according to global tech market advisory firm, ABI Research.
“Considering Indonesia alone accounts for 40 percent of Southeast Asia’s GDP, Grab’s offering of GrabExpress, GrabFood, GrabFresh, GrabPay, and GrabFinancial, speak volumes to the opportunity of larger revenue streams well beyond its traditional ride-hailing model,” said James Hodgson, Smart Mobility Principal Analyst at ABI Research. Grab commands a 64 percent market share in Indonesia.
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CNBC Indonesia (2019-09-18)
In its research, ABI Research revealed that Grab controls 11.4% of the Asia Pacific ride hailing market with dominance in the Indonesian and Vietnamese markets. This is the second research released by ABI Research after 2018.
"The growth of online transportation has slowed. After reaching 22 billion trips in 2018, this year is expected to be closed with travel numbers slightly below 22 billion," said James Hodgson, Smart Mobility Principal Analyst at ABI Research, in an official statement received by CNBC Indonesia , Wednesday (9/18/2019).
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Industry Week (2019-08-12)
"Range anxiety” continues to be the biggest barrier to the largescale adoption of Electric Vehicles (EVs).
However, ongoing and significant improvements in battery technology will pave the way for an installed EV base of 100 million by 2028, according to global tech market advisory firm, ABI Research
To alleviate “range anxiety”, the Electric Vehicle Battery (EVB) will need to safer, cheaper, faster charging, and have a high-energy density for greater range. Continued advancements in cell technology will ease anxiety and allow EVs to gain traction substantially.
Lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries are the current standard for EVs, yet they have short life cycles and have a history of overheating.
“Recent research around lithium-based chemistries has revolved around using different lithium-based batteries to provide better fire resistance, quicker charges, and longer life spans,” says James Hodgson, Principal Analyst at ABI Research. However, while the Li-ion battery will continue to progress, it will be solid-state and lithium-silicon technologies that will be the real EVB game changer.
Numerous investments from OEMs such as Volkswagen, BMW Group, and Daimler, have been made in solid-state technology and lithium-silicon technology companies, including QuantumScape, Solid Power, Enevate and Sila Nanotechnologies. These investments highlight how important these technologies will be for the future of EVBs.
“The only way to significantly advance energy density is to add silicon to the Li-ion battery. The current approach of adding silicon in small incremental percentages (<10%) will enable energy density increases to 300 Wh/kg over the next 3-5 years,” Hodgson explains.
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Inverse (2019-07-08)
“The idea of an appreciating asset: Cars are no longer sold to passengers and owned by them, but vehicles might become monetizable assets in which people pay for access to cars to consume mobility as a service as opposed to owning vehicles,” James Hodgson, a senior analyst at ABI Research, told Inverse in May.
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Automotive News (2019-05-27)
As the transportation industry becomes more dependent on the use of data from connected-vehicle sensors, there's a growing interest in the future business opportunities in the sector. To gain more insight on those opportunities, Special Correspondent Marcus Amick talked with James Hodgson, principal analyst at consultancy ABI Research. Here are edited excerpts.
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Inverse (2019-05-03)
“No one has quite articulated the problem and opportunity as well as Musk,” James Hodgson, a senior analyst at ABI Research focused on autonomy, tells Inverse. “The idea of an appreciating asset: Cars are no longer sold to passengers and owned by them, but vehicles might become monetizable assets in which people pay for access to cars to consume mobility as a service as opposed to owning vehicles.”
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Crain's Chicago Business (2018-03-30)
Here is just one of a handful of players, along with TomTom and Google, that have the mapping resources required for driverless vehicles. "You can't have a fully autonomous system without it," says James Hodgson, a senior analyst based in the U.K. at ABI Research. "They demonstrated and convinced most of the market of the value of it," ABI Research's Hodgson says. "Then it became, 'My map is bigger than your map.' It wasn't followed up with scalable maintaining the maps."
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