3 Behavioral Trends that will Reshape Our Driving Habits
Felix Lin
When we ended 2019 on a high footnote, none of us were expecting a calamity of this scale to dawn upon us. While we have Bill Gates who had been warning we are ill-prepared for the next pandemic since 2015, the global weakness is exposed to its core when it really happened.
And almost 6 months since the outbreak of Covid-19; it has claimed more than 400,000 lives and infected more than 8million people. It has put every human being on Earth on a course to change our way of living; never will we be the same again. The COVID-19 pandemic has left us with an unpredictable and fluid situation ahead. We are entrenched in a new perspective in how we are looking at our transportation mode.
The typical family car interior has a volume of about 100 cubic feet, a 10th the size of a bedroom. And we might cram four, or sometimes five, people into that small space. It’s impossible to social distance.
A simple scenario: riding in car for 72 minutes with an infected passenger who seems fine other than coughing every few minutes. [credits to https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2020/04/22/coronavirus-car-protect-yourself-column/5166146002/]
When the windows are closed, SARS-CoV-2 (in fine aerosol particles) accumulates in the car cabin. With each new cough, the concentration builds up with no significant dilution happening.
While the extreme scenario of ditching our private transport is unlikely, but it is probable that the “new normal” will include a shift towards more concern about personal hygiene and in-depth cleanliness for our car.
Specifically, three factors will influence the future of car ownership — and many other industries, too.
Increase of Car Ownership
Non-car owners have a higher intention to acquire new cars, due to a lack of trust in public transportation. We believe we may see, a wave to buy a private car to avoid taking public transport. More families would acknowledge the potential hazard and would consider taking possession of a family size sedan that would fit their budget and lifestyle.
Surge in Contactless Delivery
Another side effect of the COVID-19 lockdowns is an acceleration of the trend towards contactless communication because of social distancing and the closure of physical retail premises.
This trend will persist as employees continue to work from home and less family trips are being planned. Many drivers would be concerned about potential cross contamination and is likely to minimize human contact – the challenge for our business is the provision of contactless delivery while maintaining the human touch.
Increased Awareness of Interior Cabin Sanitization
The knee jerk effect during the initial phase was a surge in cabin sanitization services. However, we are indeed at war now against an invisible and persistent enemy that will continue to plague us until an effective vaccine is developed and globally distributed. This is the time for drivers to make structural changes in their cleaning schedule because the world has fundamentally changed and there is no turning back.
The demand of a more efficient and tested methods for sanitization would rise; EA Detailer has partnered with ERST [https://www.erst-project.de/] – a German company which specialize in the production and development of surface coatings with a functional long-term effect, cleaning and disinfecting products
We offer solutions to the causes of prevailing problems that have a long-term effect and thus provide the user of our services with a smooth daily practice. In our company, we fulfill these tasks together as one unit in order to address the associated challenges and constant changes in a coordinated manner. We actively determine the future through personal commitment and the individual performance of each and every employee, thus sustainably bringing real value to our customers.
