Deloitte's 2020 Global Automotive Consumer Study finds Americans are even more wary now than they were a few years ago about autonomous vehicles.

And 58 percent say they wouldn't pay more than $500 to add autonomous tech to a car.

The number of Americans willing to consider an electric vehicle is now at 41 percent, up from 29 percent two years ago, and 63 percent say they would expect a fully electric vehicle to have more than 200 miles of range.

Across the automotive industry, manufacturers are moving forward with electric and autonomous technology, with or without consumers. Despite less than one half of one percent of vehicles on the road being fully electric, many OEMs are expanding their lineups to offer electric vehicles.

Deloitte’s 2020 Global Automotive Consumer Study divulges how consumer sentiment in the U.S.—as well as a few other countries—has been changing in the past few years concerning the development of technologies such as electrified vehicles and autonomous technology. The other countries surveyed include Germany, Japan, India, South Korea, and China.

Self-Driving Still Met with Suspicion

At a time when the full self-driving package in a Tesla costs $7000, 58 percent of people surveyed said they would be unwilling to pay more than $500 for autonomous technology. Since 2018, the number of Americans who think that autonomous vehicles will not be safe has hovered between 47 and 50 percent. Only in India and China did that number rise from 2018 to 2020.



Deloitte reported that 68 percent of consumers felt more cautious of autonomous technology following media reports about accidents. In the U.S. this past year, more details have surfaced regarding the fatal collision between a self-driving Uber and a pedestrian in Arizona, including that Uber had removed the auto-braking feature on the vehicle. Shortly after the crash, it was released that the safety driver was watching TV on her phone at the time of the collision.

Waymo autonomous vehicle in Arizona. Car and Driver

A slight majority of Americans say they are also somewhat or very concerned about fully autonomous vehicles being tested where they live. The residents of Chandler, Arizona, the city where Waymo tests its autonomous vehicles, some of which now lack a safety driver, have voiced and acted on their own opposition to the company testing there. Over the past three years, there were nearly two dozen reports of Chandler residents assaulting the Waymo vehicles in some form.

From 2018 to 2020, the percentage of Americans who would trust traditional automakers to bring a completely autonomous vehicle to market plunged, from 47 to 31 percent. It was only in India where the number rose during that time—but only by 1 percent. On the other hand, more Americans—36 percent—would trust a new company that specializes in autonomous tech bringing a self-driving vehicle to market.

EV Acceptance Going Up

As for electric vehicles, Americans are still fondest of the internal-combustion engine, with 59 percent saying an ICE was their preferred powertrain on their next vehicle, compared to 37 percent in Japan. The other 41 percent were open to an alternative powertrain, electric or electrified, which is up from 29 percent in 2019.

2019 Tesla Model 3. Michael Simari Car and Driver

In terms of the minimum driving range for an electric vehicles, 63 percent of Americans said they would expect more than 200 miles of range, with 22 percent saying they would expect more than 400 miles of range.

On the issue of mobility, from 2017 to 2020, the number of Americans who reported never using a ride-hailing service dropped from 55 to 38 percent, and those who rarely use such a service rose from 22 to 51 percent. Of those who use ride-hailing services, 41 percent of Generation Y/Z members (younger than 39 years old) said they question whether they need to own a vehicle going forward.



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