Harris Interactive conducted its 2010 AutoTECHCAST Study with 12,225 American adults throughout the month of April. Every participant in the 2010 AutoTECHCAST Study owned or leased an American-made car that was purchased after 2005. The report released last week indicated that a majority of participants were more concerned with fuel efficiency in vehicles rather than alternative fuels. Harris Interactive also found that consumers perceived problems with green vehicles including upfront costs, fueling infrastructure and difficulty finding qualified service providers.
The details of the 2010 AutoTECHCAST Study show that American drivers seem more comfortable with minor changes in their cars. Harris Interactive asked participants to rate their support of 69 different technologies in seven categories including drive systems and intelligent sensing. Survey takers found that 21% of participants would strongly consider purchasing vehicles with start/stop systems. 19% of participants indicated they would likely choose vehicles with eco drive components, which improves on the 11% figure from the 2009 study. In general, Harris Interactive determined that users had strong interest in voice-activated features, touch-screen panels and other gadgets that have little impact on fuel economy.
Survey takers found that consumers were less interested in vehicles running on alternative fuels. Harris Interactive assigned a price premium between $1,000 and $5,000 on alt-fuel technologies during the survey. Of all the pure alternatives mentioned, compressed natural gas (CNG) was the most popular with 10% of participants saying they would give strong consideration. Harris Interactive discovered lesser levels of consideration for hydrogen fuel cell vehicles (4%), plug-in hybrids (4%) and electric vehicles (2%). Participants did show some interest in flex-fuel vehicles (16%) and clean diesel (14%) thanks to relatively low price premiums.
We should read the results of the 2010 AutoTECHCAST as a message about the current realities of the green vehicle niche. Consumers are wowed by electric cars, plug-in sedans and CNG-powered trucks during auto shows. When it comes time to replace their cars, however, drivers are going to stick to traditional models until alternative fuel options are cost-effective and reliable. Automakers may be trotting out prototypes and renderings of their green vehicles but dealerships are still stocked with the same old models. To overcome the skepticism of advanced alt-fuel technologies, automakers will need to expedite vehicle rollouts and educate consumers on their products. The preferences of American consumers illustrated in the survey are reactions to the current market, which means Harris Interactive will produce similar results until the auto market has already gone green.
