Designing vehicles for maximum efficiency of resources is key in the circular economy. Circular design can allow vehicles to be manufactured using less resources, be easily remanufactured, parts to be swapped in and out (‘modular’), and/or space in the vehicle be reconfigured. Whereas digital technology can advance resource effective manufacturing techniques and support the automation of vehicles for sharing and mobility-as-a-service schemes.

For instance, vehicles can be ‘retrofitted’ to run off batteries, remanufactured, or designed to be dismantled and allow the reuse of parts and recycling of materials. And when batteries cannot be reused to power a passenger car any longer, they can be reused for less demanding tasks, such as storage of electricity from wind turbines and solar farms.

Cities can support business innovation towards these directions via direct financial and fiscal business support, by collaborating and engaging with circular businesses through urban Living Labs or other mechanisms, as well as setting up eco-industrial parks where by-products of one company can become a resource for another.