Transportation’s Place in the Energy Transition – Sharad Agarwal

Sharad Agarwal, the senior vice president of EasyMile, has put his background in the transportation industry to good use by opening up new opportunities for autonomous electric vehicles in the public transport sector at airports, and in industrial environments and other settings where large amounts of material goods have to be moved from place to place. In this episode of Energy Superheroes, Sharad speaks to Energy.Media about his vision for the future of autonomous vehicles and his experiences working with public- and private-sector investors in the United States and Europe. He also discusses the impact of COVID pandemic on his own family’s life and names one of his role models.

In this episode, Sharad talks about some of the things that make EasyMile different from other companies pursuing autonomous electric vehicle solutions:

• EasyMile is not focusing on robo taxis capable of taking passengers anywhere they might want to go. Instead, he says, the company is addressing issues related to shared mobility and baggage handling by using autonomous vehicles that move at low speeds of 20 miles per hour or less in controlled environments such as airports.
• EasyMile is also developing solutions for materials handling in industrial facilities – namely, autonomous vehicles that move supplies and equipment as needed at speeds of 20 mph or less.
• EasyMile is not necessarily looking to wow passengers with the autonomous aspect of its transport solutions. Its goal is to provide passengers with an experience ordinary enough that they’ll start scrolling through their phones halfway through the ride.