With the surging demand for safe and efficient driving options and advancements in electric and connected car technologies, the demand for autonomous cars is growing rapidly in North America. Moreover, the federal and the state governments in the region are enacting policies for promoting the adoption of these cars. Every year, the region is witnessing the enactment of a large number of legislations regarding autonomous vehicles. For instance, in the U.S., 15 states enacted as many as 18 autonomous vehicle related legislations, while 29 states passed autonomous vehicle related policies in 2018.
Besides the aforementioned factors, the mushrooming popularity of connected cars is also fueling the demand for autonomous cars in the region. These cars are equipped with advanced systems and features such as traffic and collision warnings, real-time traffic monitoring, road side assistance, and smartphone connectivity with vehicle. As connected cars must be equipped with V2I and V2V connectivity, which is extremely necessary for vehicle autonomy, the adoption of autonomous technology is easier in these cars than in conventional cars.
Due to the above-mentioned factors, the demand for autonomous cars is soaring in North America, as a result of which, the revenue of the North American autonomous car market is expected to rise to $52.3 billion by 2030. Furthermore, the market will advance at a CAGR of 17.1% from 2023 to 2030, as per the estimates of the market research company, P&S Intelligence. When autonomy is taken into consideration, autonomous cars are categorized into fully and semi-autonomous cars.
Between these two, the demand for semi-autonomous cars was found to be higher during the last few years. Level 1 semi-autonomous cars accounted for more than 95% of all autonomous car sales in the region in 2018. This was because of the implementation of government regulations aimed at promoting the adoption of necessary features in the vehicle. For example, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) made the use of electronic stability control (ESC) in passenger vehicles being produced since 2012 mandatory.
Autonomous cars are used in both commercial and personal applications in the region. Between the two, the use of autonomous cars is predicted to rise rapidly in commercial applications in the forthcoming years. This is ascribed to the growing popularity of shared autonomous cars in the region, which is completely transforming the vehicle ownership scenario. In the coming years, a large number of people are expected to prefer these sharing services over buying vehicles, which will fuel the use of autonomous cars in commercial applications.
In North America, the popularity of autonomous cars was found to be higher in the U.S. in the past years. This was because of the inclination of customers for more-advanced cars (level 2 autonomy) in the country. In addition to this, the country is home to a large number of original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), who are rapidly manufacturing new models equipped with advanced automation systems and features, which is also boosting the demand for autonomous cars.
Thus, due to the soaring popularity of connected cars, surging requirement for greater vehicle safety, and the increasing implementation of supportive policies regarding autonomous car deployment by various governments, the sales of autonomous cars will boom in North America in the coming years.