LAS VEGAS, Nov. 6, 2019—The CEO of the Center for Automotive Research dived into how the U.S. is viewing and reacting to advanced vehicle technology, and what that could mean for the automotive industry.
“The weight of cars we think have gone down but no, no, not at all, they’ve stayed about the same because of all the technology we’re adding today,” says Carla Bailo, CEO of the Center for Automotive Research.
Yet, with the addition of new technology, customer preference for electric vehicles is the lowest globally in the U.S. About 71 percent say they are going to buy an internal combustion engine.
And, about 65 percent of people today are turning off ADAS features because it’s delivering false positives. So, the technology being added to cars, to help drivers drive safer, is actually being turned off by the consumer.
“Let’s be clear on this, automated driving assistance helps you drive safer but it does not drive for you,” Bailo says.
The consumer is becoming the creator, says Mike McCoy, CEO and co-founder of Hackrod, a digital industrial startup combining the cultures of computer hackers with hot-rod enthusiasts.
McCoy debuted Hackrod's goal to make the consumer into a digital designer of advanced cars, all through the process of gaming, AI and virtual reality. McCoy and his team are working on a platform in which gamers can digitally design a vehicle, which would then be engineered with AI and 3-D printed.
So, picture a future of advanced vehicles, designed by the consumer and micro-manufactured.
