Preparing the Market for Autonomous Vehicle
It is fair to say that the car industry is about to see a lot of change. Not only are we witnessing the emergence of viable battery power and the politically-supported demise of first the use of diesel and very soon the internal combustion engine itself, but advances in the automotive industry, machine learning and ultra-low latency cellular are accelerating the development of fully autonomous vehicles. For a child born today, the concept of a car will be radically different from what we know now.
Yet these rapid advancements and changes are causing considerable confusion for vehicle users. This is particularly true of autonomous driving. Owners of relatively new cars are already being exposed to some basic forms of autonomy, such as parking assist and lane awareness. These functions are known in the industry as L1 and L2 – assisted and partial automation. The next level, L3, or conditional automation, is defined as where the driver does not need to monitor the dynamic driving task nor the driving environment at all times, yet must always be in a position to resume control.
It is unknown as to when all this will happen. Some say we are at least a decade away, others believe we will see fully autonomous vehicles on the road by 2020. One of the more scientific studies by KMPG earlier this year had a different projection. It concluded that the number of connected cars will overtake the number of non-connected ones around 2025. It went further to suggest that the number of L3 vehicles will surpass non-connected cars (which are obviously declining every year) by 2028.
But what do actual vehicle owners think about autonomous vehicles? New research from IHS Markit on consumer preferences for full autonomy in new vehicles finds the technology is not yet popular among a broad audience. Yet, the same audience ranked it among the very features they would be willing to pay the most for in their next new vehicle purchase. Confusing for us and the industry; confusing for the public too.
The research also showed that many were interested in related technologies, such as blind spot detection, automatic emergency braking, lane departure warning, highway autopilot and autonomous co-pilot – representing a range of L2 and L3 features.
Perhaps not surprisingly, younger drivers are more comfortable with full autonomy than older drivers. Around 61 percent of so-called Millennials and Generation Z respondents across all regions said it was a feature of interest in their next new vehicle. Older generations are less comfortable with the idea, even though fully autonomous vehicles could revolutionize mobility for elderly generations.
Of course, what is needed sometimes is a little financial incentive. The survey found that if vehicle insurance rates were based on how often consumers used self-driving features, consumers felt more inclined to accept them.
All of which indicates that while technology is advancing in leaps and bounds, considerable more work needs to be done to educate the market and to come up with supportive business models and tighter integration with other markets such as insurance.
Daniels, Guy (2017). “Car industry needs to do far more to educate drivers about autonomous vehicles”. Retrieved from http://www.telecomtv.com/articles/automotive/car-industry-needs-to-do-far-more-to-educate-drivers-about-autonomous-vehicles-15871.
