Most owners still don’t completely understand and use all the technology
available in their vehicles, according to the recent J.D. Power 2017 Tech
Experience Index Study. Responses also showed confusion about low-speed
collision avoidance and its usefulness.
That could pose problems for a future in which owners are expected to trust technology enough to take their hands off the wheel and let cars drive themselves.
The experience that a consumer has with technology today has an impact on what they want tomorrow, said Kristin Kolodge, executive director of driver interaction & HMI research at J.D. Power, in a telephone interview.
“A positive experience with technologies like a back-up camera, blind-spot warning and adaptive cruise control is very important because they are the foundational building blocks, the introductory technologies to lower levels of automated systems,” she said.
Whether consumers are comfortable with the technology in vehicles taking over lower levels of control, whether they like the experience, trust it and find it useful will determine whether they like, trust and want fully self-driving vehicles.
“If they do not have a positive experience, the likelihood that they’ll want a greater level of automation is really very low,” she said.
