The NMA Foundation presents the Car of the Future weekly feature:
Two huge surveys came out this week that perhaps might swing the idea that we are indeed at the end of a transportation era.
The CleanTechnica website reported on a worldwide survey and analysis undertaken by the firm Roland Berger. They asked 10,000 consumers in ten different countries about electric vehicles and self-driving vehicle tech. The conclusion—many global consumers already possess an acceptance of the car of the future. The ten countries surveyed were China, France, Germany India, Japan, the Netherlands, Singapore, South Korea, the United Kingdom and the United States.
Specifically, 46 percent of those surveyed said they would forgo car ownership if RoboCars were a real option and cost less. Thirty-seven percent said that they already consider electromobility as an attractive alternative.
Here are some of the statistics about overall acceptance of the new technologies:
| Most Acceptance | Least Acceptance |
| The Netherlands—59% | United States—35% |
| Japan—56% | India—33% |
| Singapore—51% | China—27% |
China and South Korea had between a 50% to 60% acceptance rate of electric vehicles or EVs. European, Japanese, South Korean and American consumers had less acceptance due to the high prices of EVs as the main barrier for purchase.
Head of Roland Berger’s global automotive competence center, Marcus Berret said, “These developments show that the entire automotive industry is reaching the end of an era. And the new momentum in the market is driven by a change in customer expectations.”
Maybe…maybe not. Might depend on how old you are.
Transportation company INRIX survey focused on drivers in the France, Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom and the United States. The survey gathered information on attitudes towards safety, privacy, trust and confidence in the connected and autonomous vehicle market and whether respondents would actually indeed ever purchase a driverless car.
Here are some of the results:
- 76 percent of total respondents had heard of a connected car (cars that communicate with each other and the world around them through mobile internet) but 40% did not know what a connected car is.
- 71 percent of U.S. to 85 percent of the Italian drivers expect autonomous vehicles or AVs to be as safe or safer than today’s vehicles.
- 73 percent of the U.S. Baby Boomers do not think that AVs will be safe. Boomers do believe that they will allow more mobility access to the elderly but 53 percent said they would still not buy one.
- 27 percent of U.S. drivers are more likely to trust big technology companies such as Apple and Google to build AVs rather than automakers which had a 23% trust rate. (Not really a significant difference.)
- U.S. drivers trust Ridesharing companies even less (4 percent) to build AVs.
- 62% of all respondents believed that AVs would be widely available within the next 10 years.
There is literally a new survey about the car of the future nearly every week now. Sometimes the statistics and/or conclusions are complimentary; many times however they are contradictory. Consumers should take these statistics with a grain of salt. Unfortunately, the media, government regulators/officials and automakers/tech companies lap these stats up and use them every which way to make sure they skew how they want.
If we are indeed at the end of an era, the transition will indeed be bumpy—don’t need a survey to tell me that.
* * *
The NMA Foundation is a 501c3 nonprofit organization dedicated to protecting your interests as a motorist and citizen through the multi-faceted approach of research, education, and litigation. The Foundation is able to offer this assistance through tax-deductible contributions.
* * *
If you are interested in learning more about the Car of the Future check out the following NMA resources:
NMA Driving News Feed—Over 50 Car of the Future stories are placed each month in the NMA Driving News—the go-to source for all your driving news information from around the country.
NMA’s Flipboard Magazine called Car of the Future—Over 50 stories are placed each month in this magazine devoted to the Car of the Future. Stories featured include future car politics, industry news and thought pieces.
Pinterest Boards
Follow the National Motorists Association on Pinterest Here OR
Follow individual Boards that have a specialized focus on the Car of the Future:
Car sharing/Ride sharing Watch
Connected Cars, Connected Cities
If you have an interesting story about the Car of the Future, please feel free to send us a link to the NMA Email address nma@motorists.org.
Thank you for your support!
