Research on vehicle automation is one of the most current topics in transportation. Some of the questions plaguing the research community include design, cost, and adoption. Many of these questions will remain unanswered until automated vehicles are available to the consumer. In this study, the researchers use a sample of California new electric vehicle buyers to understand if and how current adopters of new vehicle technologies will adopt automated vehicles. The researchers find that many respondents are interested in purchasing an automated vehicle but indicate that they only have average knowledge of the technology. Using an ordinal logit model, the researchers model the interest in purchasing a fully-automated vehicle and find that younger men who purchase higher cost vehicles are more interested in purchasing a fully-automated vehicle. Above all else, those who perceive automated vehicles as being safer than non-automated vehicles have an interest in purchasing an automated vehicle.
