AV Readiness Increases After a Two-Year Decline, J.D. Power Finds

Mobility Confidence Index Study in Collaboration with the MIT Advanced Vehicle Technology (AVT) Consortium

The automotive industry is seeing small signs of increased consumer confidence in fully automated self-driving vehicles, although overall confidence remains low, according to the J.D. Power 2024 U.S. Mobility Confidence Index (MCI) Study,℠ released today. After a two-year decline, the index score for consumer automated vehicle (AV) readiness increases 2 points to 39 (on a 100-point scale), which is where it was in 2022.

While the index has started to move in the right direction, the pace with which consumers accept the technology remains relatively flat among the general population and safety continues to affect consumer confidence. To drive positive change, 83% of consumers say they want more safety statistics regarding the technology before riding and 86% say they want the ability to take control of the vehicle if needed. Until these issues are addressed and consumer expectations are met, gains in consumer confidence with the technology will remain low.

“This year’s improvement is minimal because there are still many unmet needs required to boost consumer confidence,” said Lisa Boor, senior manager of auto benchmarking and mobility development at J.D. Power. “Repeated and consistent reporting of safety findings over time—with independent oversight—will aid acceptance. Furthermore, addressing persistent concerns regarding insurance costs and data privacy also are paramount.”

Data privacy and hacking remain top concerns as 64% of consumers express concern that the data collected in the vehicle is not safe and secure and 80% want to understand what is being done to prevent fully automated, self-driving vehicles from being hacked. In fact, this issue is becoming so important to consumers that 40% (definitely and probably will) indicated that the automakers' data protection policy will be a reason to purchase one brand over another when shopping for their next vehicle.

“Consumers are increasingly concerned with data privacy and this study shows a strong link to fully automated self-driving vehicles,” said Bryan Reimer, Ph.D., research scientist in the AgeLab at the MIT Center for Transportation and Logistics and a founder of MIT’s Advanced Vehicle Technology (AVT) Consortium. “Data security and transparency regarding data use are becoming increasingly important as a foundation for building trust in technology and connected digital solutions. Trust is built over time but can be quickly eroded. The news media's attention to a recent failure by one automotive manufacturer to safeguard drivers’ privacy is likely provoking anxiety among automotive consumers.”

Following are some key findings of the 2024 study:

• Drones in demand: This year’s study also measures consumer confidence with various ways that automated self-driving technology may be deployed for air transportation, including drones and air taxis (i.e., aircraft with vertical takeoff and landing capabilities). Confidence in having packages delivered using an automated drone is 34%, more than double the rate of riding in a fully automated, self-driving air taxi (16%).

• Insurance per ride unexpected: Nearly three-fourths (71%) of consumers say they don’t expect to acquire insurance on a pay-per-ride basis when utilizing a robotaxi service. More than half (57%) agree that the vehicle owner will need liability coverage for any fully automated, self-driving vehicle.

• Parents of teens want ADAS technology: Parents of teen drivers are roughly twice as comfortable letting them drive the household vehicle (50%) than ride in a robotaxi (26%) or use Uber teen (29%). However, 39% of parents say they want the household vehicle to be equipped with Active Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) technology for safety reasons.

The J.D. Power 2024 Mobility Confidence Index Study is based on responses from 3,000 vehicle owners in the United States who are age 18 or older, and who completed an online survey. The study results are balanced to basic census demographics to be nationally representative. The study was fielded in August 2024 and is based on seven unique attributes of consumer comfort with fully automated, self-driving vehicles. Since 2019, J.D. Power has provided the only comprehensive measurement of consumer readiness for fully automated, self-driving vehicles in several categories: personal vehicles; commercial vehicles; public transit; riding if unable to drive due to age or injury; sharing the road with other AVs; testing of AV technology and consumer purchase intent.

About J.D. Power

J.D. Power is a global leader in automotive data and analytics, and provides industry intelligence, consumer insights and advisory solutions to the automotive industry and selected non-automotive industries. J.D. Power leverages its extensive proprietary datasets and software capabilities combined with advanced analytics and artificial intelligence tools to help its clients optimize business performance.

J.D. Power was founded in 1968 and has offices in North America, Europe and Asia Pacific. To learn more about the company's business offerings, visit JDPower.com/business. The J.D. Power auto-shopping tool can be found at JDPower.com.

To learn more about the U.S. Mobility Confidence Index Study, visit https://www.jdpower.com/business/automotive/us-mobility-confidence-index-mci-study.

See the online press release at http://www.jdpower.com/pr-id/2024127.

About the MIT Advanced Vehicle Technology Consortium

The Advanced Vehicle Technology (AVT) Consortium is an academic-industry partnership founded in 2015 within the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Center for Transportation and Logistics. It is supported by over 25 different automakers, insurance companies, suppliers, and research organizations through a pre-competitive collaboration designed to develop a data-driven understanding of drivers’ behavior with, and utilization of, vehicle automation, driver safety systems, and other technologies. AVT research aims to support a future of safe, convenient, and sustainable mobility through more effective human-centered vehicle technology development and consumer understanding of appropriate technology usage. To learn more about the AVT consortium and its members, visit avt.mit.edu.

About J.D. Power and Advertising/Promotional Rules: www.jdpower.com/business/about-us/press-release-info

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