These Are The Features New Car Buyers Want Most
AutoPacific surveyed more than 14,000 drivers on what features they want most. Wireless charging and driver profiles top the list.
As much as some of us rail against tech here, even at InsideEVs, our snark and well-researched critiques of too much in-car tech can sometimes fall on deaf ears. Automakers are cramming more and more cars full of technology and customers are resonating hard with it. A new study from the automotive research analyst group AutoPacific shows us that customers are really into new tech features—in fact, they want more of them.
Called the Future Attribute Demand Study (FADS), this survey from Auto Pacific aims to show the comfort and convenience options that new car buyers want most. It surveyed 14,900 drivers who plan on buying a car within the next three years.
It surveyed buyers searching all powertrain types, including ICE, hybrid and electric vehicles. It surveyed 163 different features, including ones that may be EV-specific, like bi-directional charging. But many of those features are now beginning to trickle down to gas-powered cars too.
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Automakers have big dreams for things like streaming TV and games, downloadable add-ons and automated driving features. And they want people paying for them monthly, not just when the car is purchased. But what features do people actually want? That's the question as the industry throws everything at the wall to see what sticks.
The top 10 most demanded features are:
- Wireless charging pad for portable electronic devices for front passengers (44%)
- Wireless charging pad for portable electronic devices for rear passengers (37%)
- Heated and ventilated/cooled front seats (37%)
- Rain-sensing windshield wipers (36%)
- Sunroof/moonroof (35%)
- Driver profile settings (35%)
- Household 110v outlet (34%)
- Sun shades for rear passengers (33%)
- Rear cross-traffic alert with automatic emergency braking (32%)
- Built-in air compressor (31%)
Although some are fairly standard additions, like the sunroof or rear cross-traffic alert, other features feel almost as if the experience barrier between electrified and ICE powertrains has started to break down. Features common in electric vehicles, like driver profiles, have now become a must-have for cars of any type.
2024 Chevrolet Blazer EV RS
“Making your own driver profile settings requires a bit of initial homework, but once established, it’s essentially a get-in-and-go experience with the vehicle automatically setting the seat, mirrors, steering wheel, audio presets, and many other personal settings to your preferences when you get in the vehicle,” said Robby DeGraff, AutoPacific’s Manager of Product and Consumer Insights.
It’s a boon to drivers who have multiple users driving one car, and something incredibly common among Tesla, Hyundai, Kia, and other EV models.
Same with things like 110-volt outlets or wireless charging; true they may have been installed in gas cars, but I’d wager the expectation that they’re in electric vehicles is practically a given. Interesting to see wireless charging rank so high, though. The InsideEVs staff nearly unanimously decried the use of wireless chargers, calling them terrible and useless. AutoPacific claimed their desirability moved upward this year compared to last year.
This is only part of the study, AutoPacific shared with us that it has more EV-specific survey results coming soon.
What are your must-have features in modern cars?
Contact the author: kevin.williams@insideevs.com
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