By Gary S Vasilash

The “Consumer Attitude’s Around Autonomous Vehicle Technology Survey” indicates that there is a solid base of consumers who are ready to spend money to buy self-driving capability for their next vehicle.

Perhaps.

That is, there is a blur between advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) and autonomous driving, even though the survey conducted for Ghost Autonomy, a developer of autonomous driving software, provides definitions of both, with ADAS including “automatic emergency braking, blind spot and pedestrian detection, lane keeping assist, surround view, parking assist, driver drowsiness detection and gaze detection” and autonomous driving technologies based on the SAE five levels, but claiming “L3-L5 is considered fully autonomous driving that does not require human backup,” which is not the case, because L3, while it lets the driver do other things, also requires that the driver be capable of reassuming, well, driving.

For example, BMW has launched “BMW Personal Pilot L3,” which will be available to purchasers (adding 6,000 euros to the sticker) of the BMW 7 Series—in Germany only.

According to BMW this system provides “Level 3 capability as defined by the Society of Automotive Engineers,” and it “allows drivers to redirect their focus to other in-vehicle activities when travelling at up to 60 km/h (37 mph) on motorways with structurally separated carriageways.”

However, the driver “still has to be ready to reassume the task of driving at any time – i.e. as soon as the situation on the road requires them to or the stretch of road suitable for using the BMW Personal Pilot L3 comes to an end.”

In other words, “human backup.”

According to the Ghost Autonomy survey, 52% of those who have experienced self-driving (which arguably would be those who have ridden in a Cruise or Waymo vehicle, as FSD’s name notwithstanding, Tesla’s product isn’t self-driving, at least not within the existing classification, and it actually requires that the driver keep hands on the wheel) would “consider buying a car with full autonomy sooner if the technology was available today,” which is sort of a moot point because (a) it isn’t and (b) its not likely to be anytime soon.

What’s more, those “drivers who’ve experienced self-driving,” 78% of them, are willing to pay $5,000 or more upfront. Arguably this will be a lot more than $5,000 because the aforementioned BMW system would be about $6,600, and the Tesla FSD package (“Your car will be able to drive itself almost anywhere with minimal driver intervention and will continuously improve”) adds $12,000 to the sticker.

One finding in the survey that is certainly laudable is that when asked to rank the factors considered when they purchase their next vehicle they are:

1. ADAS
2. Keyless or phone-based entry and start
3. Premium infotainment screen and sound
4. Premium interior/exterior trim
5. EV/battery powertrain

Yes, safety systems rank first.

But one wonders whether that answer isn’t analogous to what people say at the dentist office when asked about their brushing and flossing habits.

Who is going to say even on a survey that awesome audio is more important to them than safety?