Are we set to see driverless cars on the roads soon? It’s a question which few know the answer to, but the British public does know which brands it trusts to deliver the future for driving.
Leasing Options has tracked the future of automated driving technology and surveyed British drivers to find their views and opinions on who will lead the way and be the first to announce the driverless car.
It comes as no surprise to find that Tesla is seen as the No.1 brand when it comes to driverless, according to the survey, 26.6 per cent of the public would trust a driverless car from Tesla. The US brand is at the forefront of automated driving technology and is making bold claims about the capabilities of their range of electric motors. Perhaps a little surprising is that the traditionally big brands such as Audi, BMW and Jaguar are not expected to deliver driverless car technology anytime soon, with only Volvo on 22.6 per cent of vote getting anywhere near Tesla’s confidence with the public.
At the other end of the price scale, Hyundai are given a firm thumbs up to come early with automated driving, they are ahead of of Citroen, Peugeot and Chrysler. It seems nobody really trusts the French when it comes to driverless, with only 4.1 per cent of the public trusting Renault.
Away from the traditional motoring behemoths, there are a number of major tech companies who are making big plays in the driverless market and unsurprisingly, the public see Apple as the market leader in that space with 31.3 per cent trusting the American tech giant to produce a driverless car. Microsoft is way behind with only 11.6 per cent of trust, behind both Amazon and Samsung, illustrating that the old school has fallen behind.
So when exactly will we see driverless technology brought to the roads? Well according to Leasing Options, Waymo, General Motors and Apple have all scheduled this year as the release date for their first fully autonomous car.