Consumers show interest in smart-car technology

Consumers show interest in smart-car technology

Many consumers, especially older ones, are leery of fully autonomous vehicles, according to a new survey by J.D. Power. But consumers are very interested in some of the technologies underlying autonomous cars. Features with high consumer interest include smart headlights, night vision, lane change assist, traffic jam assist, medical emergency stop, smart intersection and predictive vehicle control.

Trust in fully automated cars is directly linked to the age of the consumer. More than half of Gen Y and Gen Z (the groups born 1977 to 2000), compared with 23 percent of baby boomers and 18 percent of pre-boomers (born before 1946), say they trust self-driving technology. All groups are concerned about technology security, specifically around privacy and the potential for systems to be hacked, hijacked or to crash (either the vehicle or the system itself).