1 in 4 Americans Say They’d Never Use an Autonomous Vehicle

Global market research and consulting firm Ipsos recently set out to answer the question that’s on the entire automotive industry’s mind: do people really want self-driving cars?

For the study, Ipsos surveyed 21,549 consumers from 28 countries between the ages of 18-24. The study was conducted from November 27th, 2017 to December 8th, 2017, so this was before the fatal accident involving a pedestrian and a self-driving Uber, and before one of General Motors’ Cruise AV test cars was ticketed in San Francisco for failing to yield to a pedestrian. These stories may have changed consumer perceptions of AVs in the interim, but Ipsos’ findings are still very interesting.

According to the study, only 22% of Americans and 18% of Canadians describe themselves as being in favor of self-driving cars and eager to use them. That number was a bit higher outside of North America at 30%, but still surprisingly low. Additionally, 54% of Americans said they were unsure of them but found the idea interesting, while the remaining 24% said they were against the idea and would never use a self-driving car.

American consumers are also more interested in owning a vehicle with self-driving technology than using one as part of a ride-sharing service. Of those surveyed, 37% said they would own a car with self-driving tech, while only 18% would hire one like an Uber or a Lyft. They aren’t very interested in paying a monthly fee to have access to one, either, with just 12% saying they would consider doing this.

The autonomous technology that most interests American car buyers is autonomous parking tech, with 58% saying they would use such technology if it came on their vehicle. Just 53% would use self-driving systems on the highway, however, and a similar amount said they use it during their commute, during long drives or in areas where they are unfamiliar with the roads. Only 40% said they would use such technologies in bad weather such as rain or snow.

Most interesting of all, though, is that 58% of Democrat voters and 67% percent of Republican voters described themselves as car and/or motorcycle enthusiasts. That means that many of them really aren’t interested in having their car drive itself. Ipsos says this is also evidence of an impending culture war between those who heavily support autonomous vehicles, and those who would rather drive themselves around and actually enjoy doing so.

It seems the war on the car is real and ramping up, so where do you stand?

You can read the full Iposos autonomous vehicle study at this link.