Consumer interest builds for 'gateway' automated vehicle technologies, says study

Trust in automation technology is very much age dependent, as younger consumers have a notably higher level of confidence in the technology than their older counterparts, according to the J.D. Power 2016 US Tech Choice Study, which says trust in automation technology is a critical step toward the future of automated vehicles. The study was conducted in February through March 2016 and is based on an online survey of more than 7,900 consumers who purchased/leased a new vehicle in the past five years.
April 29, 2016 Read time: 2 mins

Trust in automation technology is very much age dependent, as younger consumers have a notably higher level of confidence in the technology than their older counterparts, according to the J.D. Power 2016 US Tech Choice Study, which says trust in automation technology is a critical step toward the future of automated vehicles.

The study was conducted in February through March 2016 and is based on an online survey of more than 7,900 consumers who purchased/leased a new vehicle in the past five years.

The study finds that customers are most interested in a number of automotive technology features that make use of the underpinnings of fully automated vehicles, such as radar, sensors, light detection and ranging (LIDAR) and cameras. Features with high consumer interest include smart headlights, night vision, lane change assist, traffic jam assist, medical emergency stop, smart intersection and predictive vehicle control.  

However, when it comes to making the leap to fully automated cars, trust in the technology is directly linked to the age of the consumer. More than half of Gen Y (born 1977-1994) and Gen Z (1995-2000) vehicle owners say they trust self-driving technology, compared with 41 per cent of Gen X (1965-1976), 23 per cent of Baby Boomers (1946-1964) and 18 per cent of Pre-Boomers (born before 1946).

The one view all generations share is a concern for technology security, specifically surrounding privacy and the potential for systems to be hacked, hijacked or to crash (either the vehicle or the system itself).

"The level of trust is directly linked to the level of interest in a new technology among automobile buyers," said Kristin Kolodge, executive director of driver interaction and HMI research at J.D. Power. "Acceptance can be increased with exposure over time and experience with automated technologies. But trust is fragile and can be broken if there is an excessive number of incidents with automated vehicles."

Location Based Systems

Related Content

  • February 1, 2012
    Infrastructure funding and road user charging – debate continues
    Jack Opiola provides an overview of the ongoing debate over US infrastructure funding and the progress – or lack of it – towards vehicles miles travelled road user charging. The future funding of transportation and mobility infrastructure is attracting increased attention. There has been sharp debate in the US, where landmark reports from the National Surface Transportation Infrastructure Financing Commission and the National Surface Transportation Policy and Revenue Study Commission both stated that the cu
    Read More
  • March 4, 2019
    ITS & Ethics: yes means yes
    There is an increasing wealth of information available to create personalised transport solutions – and the possibilities are exciting. But, Andrew Bunn warns, ITS companies have a duty to be explicit in explaining what people’s data is going to be used for
    Read More
  • January 26, 2012
    Debating road user charging systems
    Are pre-launch trials of charging systems the way to improve public acceptance? Or is the real key a more robust political attitude? Here, leading system suppliers discuss the issue. The use of distance-based Road User Charging (RUC) is now well established, at least for heavy goods vehicles on strategic roads. However demand management for all vehicles, whether a distance-based charge or some form of cordon scheme, has yet to make significant progress. This is in spite of the logic and equity of RUC being
    Read More
  • May 18, 2016
    Car traffic in London is down but congestion is up, says new study
    London Congestion Trends, an in-depth study of the causes of traffic congestion in London between 2012 and 2015 published by Inrix, indicates that congestion in London is increasing, with journey times in Central London growing by 12 per cent annually. Inrix says this is consistent with data that shows that the London economy and population are growing, which normally results in an increase in gridlock. Further, unemployment and fuel prices are down, both of which usually mean a rise in traffic. Despite thi
    Read More

Highlighted Content