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posted by martyb on Friday May 12 2017, @06:56AM   Printer-friendly
from the insurance-deduction dept.

http://www.alphagalileo.org/ViewItem.aspx?ItemId=175144&CultureCode=en

The average consumer would be willing to pay $4,900 more for a car that had self-driving technologies, and $3,500 more for crash avoidance, according to a new study published in Transportation Research Part C: Emerging Technologies.

The researchers, from Cornell University in the US, also found a big difference in what people would be willing to pay: some would stretch to more than $10,000 for automation, while others would pay nothing at all. Car manufacturers should consider this as technologies develop and give people flexible options.

Today it's possible to buy a car that can park itself, stay in lane and maintain a constant speed. The technology is developing fast and many companies are already testing self-driving cars; it's likely we will soon see fully automated cars on the market. But will people be willing to pay for this technology and how can manufacturers and policy makers make sure it is rolled out to our roads smoothly? This is what Dr. Ricardo Daziano and his colleagues wanted to find out.

Are consumers willing to pay to let cars drive for them? Analyzing response to autonomous vehicles (DOI: 10.1016/j.trc.2017.03.003) (DX)


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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday May 12 2017, @02:47PM (1 child)

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday May 12 2017, @02:47PM (#508631)

    My household income is about $250K, but I find it a stretch to pay even 26K for a crossover SUV. I think I have better use for that money.

    I would only pay more for a car that required no gas.

  • (Score: 2) by Phoenix666 on Friday May 12 2017, @04:22PM

    by Phoenix666 (552) on Friday May 12 2017, @04:22PM (#508686) Journal

    I think I have better use for that money.

    I agree, and think that's even more widely true. For example, do you really need to spend a thousand bucks on an ultra hi-def TV to watch the same reality show shit? Do you really need to fork over several hundred dollars on a few garments with a "fancy" label that are in fact sewn in the same sweatshops by the same people who are sewing the "economy" label clothes? Do you really need to pay a premium for the "good" phone that will last no longer than the "bad" phone? Do you need to pay extra to dine at the fancy restaurant when the food is cooked by the same Mexicans who cook the food at the diner down the block?

    In other words, our vanity and social primping cost us so much money we needn't spend. If we spent our money, asking ourselves different questions, couldn't we all do better, questions like, "Do I really need this? Can I use this money to work for me? Will spending this money save me more, or make me more money?"

    Mindlessly consuming and spending will never fulfill us, just like eating bag after bag of nothing but potato chips will ever satisfy our hunger.

    --
    Washington DC delenda est.