UK's Driverless Future

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An industry report on attitudes of business decision makers to the future of Connected Autonomous Vehicles (CAVs) in the UK
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CAV technology vehicle transport industry tested regulate road
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Helping to raise Series A investment for tech companies.
An industry report on attitudes of business decision makers to the future of Connected Autonomous Vehicles (CAVs) in the UK
About Techcelerate Ventures

Tech Investment and Growth Advisory for Series A in the UK, operating in £150k to £5m investment market, working with #SaaS #FinTech #HealthTech #MarketPlaces and #PropTech companies.
CAV technology vehicle transport industry tested regulate road
An industry report on attitudes of business decision 
makers to the future of Connected Autonomous Vehicles 
(CAVs) in the UK
ANTICIPATING AUTONOMOUS:  
THE UK'S 
DRIVERLESS 
FUTURE
As humans, we have been developing new 
forms of transport to improve the way we travel 
and work since Mesopotamian times and the 
earliest recorded use of horse-drawn carts in 
1900 BC. 
Fast-forward almost 4,000 years and there 
are 38.2 million vehicles licensed for use on 
the roads in Great Britain alone, 31.5 million 
of which are cars1. We are truly a nation of 
journey makers.    
In the last 150 years, the pace of change in 
transport has accelerated beyond belief. From 
the 1885 invention of the first ever automobile 
to now where driverless car technology 
promises to usher in the next transport 
revolution. 
Driverless cars or connected autonomous 
vehicles (CAVs), as this report refers to them, 
will bring seismic changes to the UK as a 
whole. 
CAVs are set to play a crucial role in the 
future of the UK's society and economy. 
From improving the safety of British roads for 
passengers and pedestrians to liberating those 
who are less able to travel.
The Department for Transport is aiming for 
the first deployments of CAVs in the UK by 
20212 and major car manufacturers and 
technology companies have begun trialling 
driverless prototype cars. There is both a 
public and private sector appetite for making 
this autonomous future a reality.  
So, what are the next steps for making CAVs 
commercially available in the UK? When will 
road-users be able to buy one? What benefits 
can the UK public expect?
This report, commissioned by the Smart 
Mobility Living Lab: London (SMLL), sets out to 
tackle these key questions, based on research 
which surveyed 250 senior decision makers 
from across the transporting, technology and 
automotive industries. 
    
1  https://www.racfoundation.org/motoring-faqs/mobility#a1 
2  https://www.gov.uk/government/news/self-parking-cars-could-be-on-a-street-near-you-	
	 by-2021 
FOREWORD
Connected autonomous vehicles (CAVs) and 
the anticipated societal benefits they will bring 
will become a reality within the next decade. 
That's the over-riding feeling amongst the 
transport and technology industry leaders 
we surveyed as part of this study of opinions 
about CAVs in the UK. 
Of the decision makers surveyed, almost two-
thirds (65%) are confident that CAVs will be 
made available on UK roads in the next five 
years. This isn't to say that those respondents 
think all cars will be driverless within this 
timescale, but it is a vote of confidence in the 
UK's ability to take CAVs from their formative 
stages to a commercially viable method of 
transport and convince enough early adopters 
to use them.
Building on this expectation, a perception 
exists that progress has been slower than 
initially anticipated. Almost half (49%) said that 
they expected CAVs to already be available 
for use in the UK, suggesting that while many 
do not consider the barriers to progress to 
be impassable, further work must be done to 
achieve this. This may also be indicative of a 
general lack of appreciation about the amount 
of time it takes to bring new technologies  
to market.
Industry leaders are also clear that the 
benefits that CAVs will bring to the UK are well 
worth pursuing. The principal benefit driving 
CAVs forward is safety. Two-thirds (67%) of 
respondents believe CAVs will make British 
roads safer, and almost half (46%) cited safety 
as the main benefit that CAVs will bring when 
they are effectively rolled out.
Beyond safety, they will deliver a future of 
mobility that is intelligent, joined-up and 
positively affects the lives of British people 
and businesses in many ways. Almost half 
(49%) agreed that CAVs will make elderly 
and disabled people more mobile. This is 
a welcome development considering that 
people are living longer, with many finding 
it increasingly difficult to get around as they 
age. For people with physical disabilities, 
CAVs could open doors to lifestyle and career 
choices from an earlier age which would 
previously have been challenging for them  
to pursue. 
These broader societal benefits also translate 
into commercial opportunities. More than 
seven in ten (72%) of respondents were 
unconcerned about a lack of market need 
holding back the rollout of CAVs. In economic 
terms, 62% agreed that CAVs would have a 
positive impact on UK GDP.
These findings point towards anticipation 
and expectation rather than confusion and 
trepidation. There is a clear mandate for 
making CAVs commercially available in the 
UK over the next five years and willingness 
from transport, automotive and technology 
organisations to set about the task. 
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 
AGREED THAT CAVS 
WOULD HAVE A 
POSITIVE IMPACT ON 
UK GDP.
62%
Safety is naturally a key concern for CAV 
users, regulators and manufacturers. For 
consumers, attitudes towards the safety of 
CAVs are on a positive trajectory. Deloitte's 
2018 Global Automotive Consumer Study 
found that less than half (49%) believe that 
self-driving vehicles will be unsafe, down from 
73% in 2017.3 
When it comes to leaders from transport, 
automotive and technology organisations, 
attitudes towards the safety of CAVs are 
more positive: only 17% disagreed that CAVs 
would make UK roads safer, with two-thirds 
(67%) agreeing that they will. 16% declared 
themselves unsure on this issue, potentially 
due to the lack of real-world deployments 
available in the UK on which to base this 
response.
Beyond safety, industry leaders are most 
excited about the wider role CAVs will play 
in British society. These included a range 
of advantages on important societal and 
economic issues.
Brits already spend more time commuting than 
people living and working in other countries. 
According to the ONS, the average commute 
time in the UK is 54 minutes, while the number 
of people commuting for more than an hour 
has risen by 31% since 2011.4 CAVs promise 
to reduce congestion on UK roads  41% of 
respondents believe this  by improving traffic 
flows and using more of the available space on 
the roads by driving closer together.
Over half (51%) of the decision makers 
surveyed think freeing up more time for 
commuters due to reduced travel time will be 
a key benefit. Over a third (37%) agree that 
CAVs may help commuters achieve a better 
work/life balance, while the majority are unsure 
that CAVs will have any impact.  
CAVs may well reduce commuting times for 
some people, but whether or not a shorter 
commuting time has a positive impact on work/
life balance is entirely subjective. Furthermore, 
there are many factors which affect work/life 
balance besides length of travel to work, such 
3  https://www2.deloitte.com/uk/en/pages/press-releases/articles/fears-about-the-safety-of-	
	 driverless-cars-diminishing.html 
4 https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/employmentandem	
	 ployeetypes/methodologies/labourforcesurveylfsqmi 
as average working hours, holidays and  
job demands. 
One finding which does indicate how CAVs 
might improve our quality of life is that almost 
half (49%) of those surveyed highlighted 
increased mobility for elderly and disabled 
people as a key benefit. The latest ONS 
projections show that in 50 years' time, there 
are likely to be an additional 8.6 million people 
aged 65 years and over, so the role CAVs play 
in terms of increasing opportunity and mobility 
for elderly and disabled people is only likely to 
increase in importance in years to come.5 
Giving people access to the world around them 
will not only allow them to enjoy a better quality 
of life, it also opens the door to a potentially 
untapped demographic for local shops, 
businesses and service providers. This is one 
of the areas where we can already tangibly 
see the point at which CAVs moves from 
technological advancement to economic and 
social progress.
Those surveyed identified CAVs as having 
a role to play in helping the UK and local 
governments hit their various emissions 
5 https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/age	
	
ing/articles/livinglongerhowourpopulationischangingandwhyitmatters/2018-08-13 
BEYOND SAFETY -  
The key benefits and impact of CAVs
HIGHLIGHTED INCREASED MOBILITY 
FOR ELDERLY AND DISABLED PEOPLE 
AS A KEY BENEFIT.
49%
targets. In its fifth carbon budget, the UK has 
committed to reducing carbon emissions by 
57% of 1990 levels by 2030. Almost three-
quarters (74%) of industry leaders believe 
CAVs have a role to play in doing so, with 46% 
of those believing they are fundamental to 
these goals. 
Linking CAVs to reductions in carbon 
emissions, as 43% of those surveyed do, 
could be based on the assumption that CAVs 
will be powered by electricity rather than 
traditional internal combustion engines (ICE). 
It's important to note this as an interesting 
perception, despite the lack of any industry 
consensus on the predominant power-train that 
CAVs will use. While studies do exist, which 
determine CAVs may lead to lower emissions 
due to 'platooning', this is not sufficient to 
assume that CAVs will register a positive 
impact on the environment overall.  
Almost a third (30%) of respondents feel the 
introduction of CAVs will lead to a reduction 
in vehicle ownership. For example, would 
a family need multiple vehicles, if the one 
vehicle could drop one person off and then 
return home to collect other family members? 
We cannot directly infer from this finding that 
people think this will result in a reduction of the 
total number of vehicles on the road.  Instead 
it simply reflects a belief that the ownership 
model for change. Would you need to own a 
vehicle if there are driverless cars constantly 
available to "taxi" you around? Either way, 
this is a crucial finding which hints towards a 
dramatic shift in the business model used by 
vehicle manufacturers and transport operators.
THINK CAVS NEED TO BE SUBJECTED 
TO REAL-WORLD TESTING BEFORE 
THEY CAN BE USED ON UK ROADS.
68%
Although the future transport system is likely 
to be powered by CAVs, the full impact they 
will have on society and the implications of 
their rollout are yet to be fully realised or 
considered. According to this study, we're still 
very much in the formative years of CAVs. 
Collaboration between industries, governments 
and regulators will be essential in  
navigating this final period of development  
and eventual implementation.
One of the key questions, is who should be 
responsible for this rollout? Car manufacturers 
understand that CAVs may change vehicle 
ownership models forever and that to ignore 
the imminent disruption would be folly. The 
technology industry, playing a central role in 
the operation of the vehicles, has much to gain 
from CAVs being made commercially available. 
Whether it's supplying the in-car technologies, 
sensors and software, or the digital 
infrastructure, urban and rural connectivity and 
data management solutions, all parts of the 
CAV ecosystem will have to work together for 
their deployment to be successful.
When asked where the primary responsibility 
for the rollout lies, 43% said with technology 
companies, while 41% answered vehicle 
manufacturers. While this indicates that 
deploying CAVs in the UK must be a cross-
industry collaboration with no primary leader, 
there is a clear mandate for the private sector 
to set the pace of this rollout. Less than a third 
(30%) feel that national government should 
take responsibility.
Most leaders in the private sector think 
personal cars (32%) will be the first vehicles 
to become autonomous, twice as likely as 
taxis and buses (16%). From a commercial 
perspective this may be because self-driving 
personal cars command more consumer 
appeal than taxis or buses. This nods towards 
private sector organisations leading the way, 
although there is a chance that the first CAVs 
in the UK will be taxis or buses, rolled out as 
part of government programmes to build trust 
in the technology. This may be required  
before personal CAVs are considered 
commercially viable.  
Although there is a sense that this rollout 
will not be led by national government, one 
factor to consider is that public sector bodies 
are focused on easing congestion caused by 
personal vehicles and instead promote public 
transport methods. The impact of autonomous 
vehicle technologies on the public transport 
experience could be profound in terms of 
increasing consistency, efficiency  
and satisfaction.
The assumption that CAVs will be led by 
technology and automotive organisations 
may be linked to the factors which could 
delay their rollout in the UK. Investment in 
strengthening the UK's digital infrastructure 
was flagged (39%) as a key step for making 
self-driving cars commercially available in the 
next five years. In-vehicle technology (47%) 
and roadside technologies (44%) were also 
noted as requiring advancement enough to 
support a full rollout. Given the lack of real-
world deployments of CAVs in the UK on 
which to base this theory, it is understandable 
that a perception exists that the necessary 
technologies are not ready.  
To move the needle on those perceptions, 
more successful trials and testing of 
autonomous vehicle technologies need to take 
place on UK soil  especially in complex urban 
settings. Collaboration between the technology 
industry, vehicle manufacturers and the public 
bodies responsible for these infrastructure 
upgrades will be crucial for making CAVs a 
commercial success.
Rigorous testing is essential in bringing 
CAVs to the market
Navigating the interplay between in-car 
technology, roadside technology, broader 
vehicle infrastructure, data security and 
regulation requirements is too complex for any 
one developer or industry to solve on its own. 
Comprehensive testing, collaborative R&D and 
collective regulation development is the only 
way for CAVs to become a commercial reality.
Arguably, the least surprising finding of 
the study is that 92% of industry decision 
makers acknowledge that some form of 
testing is required before CAVs can be made 
commercially available to UK road-users. More 
than two-thirds (68%) think CAVs need to be 
CAVS   
THE FORMATIVE YEARS:
subjected to rigorous real-world testing before 
they can be used on UK roads.
Taking it one step further, 45% think live testing 
environments are important. These testing 
environments need to involve interaction 
between CAVs and human-driven vehicles 
as well as pedestrians. A further 39% think 
extensive consumer trials must take place 
before CAVs will be a commercial reality. 
This response indicates that, while generally 
the process of testing roadworthiness of 
vehicles is entrusted to vehicle manufacturers 
and industry bodies, a more involved process 
is expected for self-driving vehicles. 
Most respondents (84%) agree that the UK 
needs its own testing facilities for CAVs. There 
are multiple interpretations available as to why 
senior industry decision makers feel that the 
UK needs its own testing facilities. Consumers 
today are, for the most part, prepared to 
drive vehicles which were not manufactured 
or tested in the UK, and this finding may be 
evidence of an assumption that vehicles which 
are bought and sold for use in the UK have 
been locally tested.
Another interpretation is that people feel that 
roadways and road-users in the UK are distinct 
enough to require a testing environment 
designed specifically for them. There are 
unique challenges, even for machines, 
which are brought about by different terrains, 
transport systems and the behaviour of 
other road users. It is possible that there is a 
consensus among industry decision makers 
that driverless cars demand completely 
different local testing protocols than user-
controlled ones.   
The research supports the view that city-
based testing facilities can make a positive 
contribution towards innovation in driverless 
car technologies as well as reassuring 
stakeholders from multiple industries and 
consumers of their safety and reliability.
BELIEVE CAVS WILL BECOME 
AVAILABLE IN THE NEXT DECADE.
84%
Consistent with the generally positive response 
to the potential of CAVs being rolled out in 
the UK, 70% are confident that CAVs can be 
successfully regulated against a standard  
something with which almost 50% of CEOs 
strongly agree. This consensus is a major vote 
of confidence in the ability of UK transport 
bodies to successfully regulate the use of 
CAVs, ultimately enabling their  
commercial use. 
However, 39% said that regulatory and 
technology standards must be agreed upon 
before CAVs can fulfil their commercial 
potential, with 41% noting that insurance 
policies and legal liability frameworks must be 
in place. Insurers and lawyers have been - and 
still are - engaged in lengthy debates around 
how issues such as liability and compensation 
will be regulated should a road-traffic collision 
or breakdown involving a CAV occur.
Uniting the industry focus on safety, the 
broad need for public and private sector 
collaboration, and the essential role of product 
and business model testing is the agreed 
requirement for exacting standards. 
Real-world testing and collaboration is just 
as important for regulators as it is for vehicle 
manufacturers and technology developers. 
Governments and regulators need to know 
that the rules they put in place for CAVs do 
everything necessary to support growth, foster 
innovation and protect consumers.
This survey of senior decision makers from 
the transport, technology and automotive 
industries has provided a strong indication that 
it is a matter of when and not if CAVs become 
available in the UK  supported by the fact that 
only 2% of respondents said that this would not 
happen and 84% believe that this will happen 
within the next decade.
The next steps are already in motion. The 
Smart Mobility Living Lab: London (SMLL), 
a co-innovation project led by TRL and a 
consortium including Cisco, Transport for 
London, DG Cities, Queen Elizabeth Olympic 
Park, Cubic, and Loughborough University, 
has taken on the challenge of facilitating the 
searching for solutions.
SMLL brings together technology, public 
infrastructure and transport experts to build a 
testbed, located across the Royal Borough of 
Greenwich and the Queen Elizabeth Olympic 
Park, to offer a uniquely complex urban setting 
for developing future transport technologies, 
services and business models. The testbed 
will become the place to go for advanced 
real-world CAV and transport testing  where 
technology and service providers from related 
and unrelated industries can look at the entire 
connected transport environment and get their 
products and services market-ready, faster. 
A UK road network used predominantly by 
CAVs isn't five, ten years away, it is almost 
upon us. The journey has begun. 
 ARE YOU WITH US?
Join us at smartmobility.london
@SMLL_London
#JourneyMakers
NEXT STEP? STANDARDS. 
Consistent with the generally positive response 
to the potential of CAVs being rolled out in 
the UK, 70% are confident that CAVs can be 
successfully regulated against a standard  
something with which almost 50% of CEOs 
strongly agree. This consensus is a major vote 
of confidence in the ability of UK transport 
bodies to successfully regulate the use of 
CAVs, ultimately enabling their commercial 
use. 
However, 39% said that regulatory and 
technology standards must be agreed upon 
before CAVs can fulfil their commercial 
potential, with 41% noting that insurance 
policies and legal liability frameworks must be 
in place. Insurers and lawyers have been - and 
still are - engaged in lengthy debates around 
how issues such as liability and compensation 
will be regulated should a road-traffic collision 
or breakdown involving a CAV occur.
Uniting the industry focus on safety, the 
broad need for public and private sector 
collaboration, and the essential role of product 
and business model testing is the agreed 
requirement for exacting standards. 
Real-world testing and collaboration is just 
as important for regulators as it is for vehicle 
manufacturers and technology developers. 
Governments and regulators need to know 
that the rules they put in place for CAVs do 
everything necessary to support growth, foster 
innovation and protect consumers.
This survey of senior decision makers from 
the transport, technology and automotive 
industries has provided a strong indication that 
it is a matter of when and not if CAVs become 
available in the UK  supported by the fact that 
only 2% of respondents said that this would not 
happen and 84% believe that this will happen 
within the next decade.
The next steps are already in motion. The 
Smart Mobility Living Lab: London (SMLL), 
a co-innovation project led by TRL and a 
consortium including Cisco, TfL, DG Cities, 
Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, Cubic, and 
Loughborough University, has taken on the 
challenge of facilitating the searching for 
solutions.
SMLL brings together technology, public 
infrastructure and transport experts to build a 
testbed, located across the Royal Borough of 
Greenwich and the Queen Elizabeth Olympic 
Park, to offer a uniquely complex urban setting 
for developing future transport technologies, 
services and business models. The testbed 
will become the place to go for advanced 
real-world CAV and transport testing  where 
technology and service providers from related 
and unrelated industries can look at the entire 
connected transport environment and get their 
products and services market-ready, faster. 
A UK road network used predominantly by 
CAVs isn't five, ten years away, it is almost 
upon us. The journey has begun.  
Are you with us?
Join us at smartmobilty.london.
@SMLL_London
#JourneyMakers
Consistent with the generally positive response to the 
potential of CAVs being rolled out in the UK, 70% are 
confident that CAVs can be successfully regulated 
against a standard  something with which almost 50% 
of CEOs strongly agree. This consensus is a major 
vote of confidence in the ability of UK transport bodies 
to successfully regulate the use of CAVs, ultimately 
enabling their commercial use. 
However, 39% said that regulatory and technology 
standards must be agreed upon before CAVs can 
fulfil their commercial potential, with 41% noting that 
insurance policies and legal liability frameworks must be 
in place. Insurers and lawyers have been - and still are 
- engaged in lengthy debates around how issues such 
as liability and compensation will be regulated should a 
road-traffic collision or breakdown involving a CAV occur.
Uniting the industry focus on safety, the broad need for 
public and private sector collaboration, and the essential 
role of product and business model testing is the agreed 
requirement for exacting standards. 
Real-world testing and collaboration is just as important 
for regulators as it is for vehicle manufacturers and 
technology developers. Governments and regulators 
need to know that the rules they put in place for CAVs do 
everything necessary to support growth, foster innovation 
and protect consumers.
Jin us at smartmobility.london
@SMLL_London
#JourneyMakers