Consumer comfort with fully automated, self-driving vehicles is holding at 39 on a 100-point scale even as understanding of the technology improves, according to the 2026 U.S. Mobility Confidence Index (MCI) Study from JD Power. Conducted in collaboration with the MIT Advanced Vehicle Technology (AVT) Consortium, the newly released study finds that 58% of consumers now correctly identify full automation, up from 43% in 2024 — yet fewer than one in four say they are comfortable riding in a fully self-driving vehicle. JD Power
Highlights
- Index unchanged for three years: The Mobility Confidence Index, which measures consumer comfort with fully automated self-driving vehicles and purchase intent, rose from 37 in 2023 to 39 in 2024 and holds steady at 39 in 2026.
- Awareness up sharply: 58% of consumers correctly identify full automation in 2026, up from 43% in 2024.
- Safety leads the barrier list: Personal safety is cited by 60% of consumers, followed by emergency handling (58%) and performance in challenging conditions (51%).
- Goods over people: Comfort with goods transported by self-driving commercial vehicles scores 46 points — the highest attribute in the study — yet only 16% are comfortable sharing the road with fully automated semi-trucks.
Why Isn’t Confidence Rising With Awareness?
The study points to a persistent gap between what consumers know and what they are ready to accept. Expectations for safety, real-world performance, and transparency are rising faster than comfort, and in some cases deeper familiarity appears to deepen hesitation rather than resolve it.
“Consumer awareness of automated vehicle technology is improving, but confidence still depends on proven safety, real-world performance and clear consumer value,” said Lisa Boor, director of auto benchmarking and mobility development at JD Power. “Consumers need to see that these systems can respond to unexpected situations, perform reliably in real-world conditions and clearly communicate what they are doing. Without that, broader adoption will remain limited.”
The pattern extends a multi-year plateau: the index rose two points to 39 in 2024 and has not moved since.
Trust Depends on the Scenario
Consumer trust in self-driving vehicles remains highly situational, declining as perceived risk rises. The study reports 54% of consumers express high trust in lower-risk, predictable tasks such as food pickup, compared with just 31% for transporting children.
Perceived value also varies by life stage. Nearly one-third (30%) of consumers say automated vehicles would not be valuable at any point in their lives. Among those who do see value, retirement emerges as the strongest opportunity, cited by 24% to 28% across demographic groups, while 25% see high value in temporary or situational needs such as medical appointments or mobility limitations.
Leading concerns among consumers include:
- Personal safety — cited by 60%
- Emergency handling — cited by 58%
- Challenging conditions such as bad weather and heavy traffic — cited by 51%
A Confidence Paradox in Commercial Trucking
Automated freight presents a split verdict. Comfort with goods moved by self-driving commercial vehicles rises to 46 points in 2026, the study’s highest-scoring attribute. At the same time, only 16% of consumers are comfortable sharing the road with fully automated semi-trucks, and 43% believe they are less safe than human-driven trucks.
Bryan Reimer, Ph.D., research scientist in the AgeLab at the MIT Center for Transportation and Logistics and a founder of MIT’s AVT Consortium, framed the findings as a governance challenge. “Consumers are learning more about fully automated vehicles, but they are not yet becoming more confident in them,” Reimer said. “That should concern anyone hoping to scale this technology. Automated vehicles need more than engineering progress, larger pilots or public education. They need a trusted ecosystem built on transparent performance data, governance guardrails and clear accountability. This is where AI governance becomes real: on public roads, in everyday mobility and in systems where trust must be earned over time. As cities and states consider deployment, moving deliberately, setting clear conditions and scaling only where evidence supports confidence may be the best path to durable public acceptance, political support and responsible growth.”
How the Study Was Conducted
The 2026 dataset is based on responses from 2,898 US vehicle owners age 18 or older who completed an online survey, with results balanced to census demographics to be nationally representative. Data was collected in April 2026 across seven attributes of consumer comfort: personal vehicles, commercial vehicles, public transit, riding if unable to drive, sharing the road with AVs, AV testing, and purchase intent. JD Power has measured consumer AV readiness in these categories since 2019.
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