Mathilde Carlier
Research Expert covering transportation and logistics
AI integration in passenger cars - Statistics & facts
In October 2024, U.S. authorities launched a preliminary investigation into Tesla’s Full Self-Driving software, which came out of beta that same year. The probe is estimated to cover around 2.4 million Tesla-branded vehicles, and illustrates some of the potential worries surrounding autonomous vehicles. Despite these potential reservations, the car automation sector shows no sign of slowing down: Forecasts published in October 2024 estimated the global autonomous car market size to reach over 114.5 billion U.S. dollars in 2029, up from just over 41 billion in 2024.
Level 1 and Level 2 Advanced Driver Assistance Systems have already taken over the market, growing from an estimated 55 percent of sales in 2015 to 97 percent in 2023. The integration of Artificial Intelligence both within cars and within the manufacturing process has the potential to further expand the market and intrinsically link connectivity and automation.
Artificial Intelligence’s potential for autonomous vehicles has led to autonomous companies representing the largest share of mobility companies working in Applied AI and immersive-reality tech. Comparatively, connected mobility companies worked mostly with advanced connectivity and cloud and edge computing.
Current trends in autonomous and connected vehicles benefit from the integration of AI in passenger cars and companies have been increasingly investing in this technology.
Level 1 and Level 2 Advanced Driver Assistance Systems have already taken over the market, growing from an estimated 55 percent of sales in 2015 to 97 percent in 2023. The integration of Artificial Intelligence both within cars and within the manufacturing process has the potential to further expand the market and intrinsically link connectivity and automation.
Applied AI presents opportunities for autonomous car companies
Funding for generative AI mobility startups has been growing in the past two years, with most of it going towards the car and ecosystem usage, such as an in-car voice assistant. Autonomous driving was the second most popular sector. AI can play a crucial part in the training of an autonomous car software, improving quality control. Some success in using machine learning to train these algorithms is already visible: In 2023, a Waymo vehicle and a Tesla in full self-driving mode had a rate of miles traveled between crashes higher than the 2021 average in the United States. While the circumstances of these tests are unclear, this still showcases that, at least in theory, autonomous driving has the potential to eventually lengthen the number of miles between crashes.Artificial Intelligence’s potential for autonomous vehicles has led to autonomous companies representing the largest share of mobility companies working in Applied AI and immersive-reality tech. Comparatively, connected mobility companies worked mostly with advanced connectivity and cloud and edge computing.
Generative AI is increasingly used in connected cars
In 2023, most car sales were connected vehicles. Advances in Artificial Intelligence are already starting to be integrated in connected cars as in-car voice assistants, through the use of GenAI. The success of ChatGPT has led to many established automakers to include access to the tool as part of these voice assistants, a move which could help incentivize customers to make use of this in-car AI feature. In the U.S., nearly half of consumers mentioned they would prefer a popular existing assistant, such as Siri or Alexa, integrated in the vehicle. However, certain hurdles remain when looking at potential consumer adoption for Artificial Intelligence in cars: Phone calls, navigation, and Bluetooth were the most important in-car GenAI features for U.S. drivers. These features are already provided in many connected cars, though not all cars allow for them to be voice operated. Consumers’ current driving behavior will therefore play an important role in AI adoption.Current trends in autonomous and connected vehicles benefit from the integration of AI in passenger cars and companies have been increasingly investing in this technology.
