There might come a time in the near future that Indians might see only self-driving cars on their roads.

A recent survey conducted by Boston Consulting Group in collaboration with the World Economic Forum has revealed that as much as 85 percent of adult Indians are willing to ride in self-driving vehicles, a figure which is much higher than any other country which participated in the survey.

While 75 percent respondents are welcoming towards the self-driving vehicles concept in China, only 52 percent of the people seemed to have warmed up to the concept in the US.

self-driving-cars_forbes

The two nations where the concept got the most cold reply were Japan and Germany. Only 36 percent respondents in Japan were willing to ride in self-driving vehicles and for Germany the figure was a mere 44 percent, though still a good 8 percent more than Japan.

According to the survey, some of the prime reasons listed by the respondents for being affirmative towards self-driving vehicles were growing traffic congestion, poor conditions of the roads and high accident rates.

The survey conducted by the Boston Consulting Group, considered as the largest so far focused towards self-driving vehicles, involved a total of 5,500 consumers residing in 27 cities across India, China, Japan, UAE, the Netherlands, France, Singapore, the UK and the US.

According to the respondents, the biggest thing that attracts them towards self-driving vehicles is that they will no longer have to go through the hassle of finding a parking space ever.

The report states, "More than four in ten consumers said that the number one reason for using self-driving vehicles is that it drops me off, finds a parking spot and parks on its own."

The survey also found out an interesting divide. While people in China, the US, and India went with a tech company as their ideal manufacturer for an entire self-driven vehicle, consumers in Japan, Germany and France trusted their traditional automakers for the task.

A majority of the respondents also showed their willingness to shell out a premium of a whopping $5,000 or more for owning fully self-driving car. Every second consumer was willing to pay more for the vehicles in India, Japan and France.

It is important to note that the willingness to shell out a few extra bucks was a logical decision based on simple economic calculations. The extra amount paid would end up balancing the incremental cost against potential cost savings in a number of other areas -- such as fuel savings, lower parking fees, and even lower housing costs-- if it becomes easier to live farther from the city.

Toyota is currently in the front of the driverless race with an impressive 1,400 patents to its credit. It is being closely followed by Bosch, Denso, Hyundai and General Motors.

According to a report published by Nishith Desai Associates, a while back, Tesla's founder Elon Musk has estimated that true autonomous driving would be possible in the next five-six years.

In India, Mahindra & Mahindra's famous electric vehicle Reva has already submitted proof of the driverless cars concept in Singapore and the UK, and has begun its experimentation work at its Bengaluru research and development facility.
Advertisements

Post a Comment

Previous Post Next Post
Like this content? Sign up for our daily newsletter to get latest updates.