Using an Autonomous Vehicle About 32% of the respondents are interested in using an autonomous vehicle they do not own. They cite relaxing during their drive (62%), reducing stress (53%) and driving when they are not physically able (46%). In this way, the autonomous vehicle could be a service that would provide transportation on-call for a fee.
Positive About Owning Taking the interest in autonomous vehicles one step further, about 27% of the respondents would consider owning an autonomous vehicle. Those who would consider owning are most likely to choose relaxing while they drive (78%), reducing stress (63%) and safety (61%) as reasons to own an autonomous vehicle.
GenX respondents (those aged between 40 and 51 years) are most likely to want to own an autonomous vehicle (37%).
GenY/GenX respondents are even more definite when choosing reasons: relaxing (82%/88%), increasing productivity during their drive (68%/63%), reducing stress (55%/62%), self-parking (45%/51%). These working-age people want to use the autonomous car as a tool to make them more efficient. They believe the time spent in their vehicle can be put to better use.
Price When asked how much more they are willing to pay for an autonomous vehicle, interest diminishes above $7,000 above the price of a vehicle without these featues. The median a person would be willing to pay is around $4,000 consistent with previous AutoPacific research.
Don’t Want to Own The primary reasons a person would not want to own an autonomous vehicle are they prefer to drive themselves (81%), liability issues (56%), reliability concerns (55%), don’t trust the technology (51%), price too high (49%), other drivers too unpredictable (49%).
Older Drivers Embrace Autonomous Vehicles, Right? WRONG A hypothesis tested was whether or not an autonomous car would be the transportation solution for America’s aging population. About 21% of the AutoPacific sample is 70 years of age or older. How will they accept a self-driving car as their physical abilities deteriorate? About 37% would be interested in riding in an autonomous vehicle (compared with 42% for the total sample). About 30% would be interested in using an autonomous vehicle (compared with 32%). About 24% would be interested in owning an autonomous vehicle (compared with 27%).
Surprisingly, the oldest drivers are a bit more resistant than the total to accept autonomous vehicles. They are much less likely to want to have an autonomous vehicle contribute to their productivity or to reduce their need to drive. They are much more likely to perceive an autonomous vehicle would be safer and be capable of quicker decision-making than they would be.
Maybe they perceive an autonomous vehicle as taking away some of their mobility freedom. Over half (52%) of the oldest respondents prefer to drive themselves compared with 47% of the total sample. This is substantially higher than GenY and GenX (40%/41%) drivers who prefer to drive themselves.
Another, more peripheral, reason may be the oldest drivers fear a deterioration in their driving skills. About 65% agree that autonomous vehicle drivers may become too reliant on the technology and not be able to take over driving in an emergency.
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