According to the 2018 KPMG Autonomous Vehicle Readiness Index (AVRI), the Netherlands has taken the top spot and is thus the most prepared country for the introduction of self-driving vehicles.

The KPMG Autonomous Vehicle Readiness Index

The AVRI is a pioneering study, focussing on a country’s preparedness to introduce self-driving vehicles and calling attention to how countries can improve their readiness for autonomous vehicles (AV).

In their study, KPMG assessed 20 countries from all over the world based on four pillars, which are fundamental to a country’s ability to accommodate self-driving vehicles. Constituting the four pillars were: technology and innovation, infrastructure, policy and legislation, and consumer acceptance.

The Netherlands took overall first place, scoring particularly well on infrastructure and consumer acceptance, ranking first and second place respectively. Notably, the Netherlands did not score any lower than fourth place on any of the four pillars.

Following closely behind the Netherlands is Singapore. Singapore did extremely well, ranking highly all on categories except for technology and innovation, where it took eighth place. On the pillars of consumer acceptance, policy and legislation and infrastructure, Singapore ranked first, first and second place respectively.

The United States comes in at third place and Sweden is not far behind in fourth place. The United States does particularly well when it comes to technology and innovation, scoring first place overall. Sweden scores highly on this pillar as well, coming in at second place, just after the US.

At fifth place is the United Kingdom, which finishes in the top 10 for all the pillars. The United Kingdom’s highest score is third place, for the pillar of consumer acceptance.

Technology and Innovation

For this pillar, countries were assessed according to nine equally weighted factors. These factors included:

• Industry partnerships
• Research and development of AV hubs
• AV technology firm headquarters (per million people)
• AV-related patents (per million people)
• Total investments (per million people)
• Market share of electric cars
• Uber market presence
• Availability of latest technology 
• Capacity for innovation

The number one position for this pillar was taken by the United States, followed by Sweden and Germany. The United States achieved the top score for five of the nine factors.

Coming in last for this pillar are Brazil, India and Russia, which take 18th, 19th and 20th place respectively. Brazil and Russia even scored zero for five of the factors.

Infrastructure

Six equally weighted factors were used to assess countries for this pillar. These factors were:

• Density of electric vehicle charging stations (per 100km)
• GSMA Global Connectivity Index for Infrastructure
• 4G coverage
• Quality of roads
• World Bank’s Logistic Performance Index
• KPMG’s Change Readiness Index technology infrastructure and infrastructure

For this pillar, The Netherlands is a clear-cut winner, with Singapore and Japan following in second and third place. The Netherlands outperforms the rest of the countries on the electric charging station factor, as there are 10 per 100km. China and the United Kingdom are next on the list but have nowhere near as many, sporting three per 100km.

Policy and legislation

The Policy and legislation pillar is made up of seven equally weighted factors, namely:

• AV regulations
• AV department within government transport department
• Government investment in AV infrastructure
• Number of government-funded AV pilots
• KPMG’s Change Readiness government capability
• Effectiveness of law-making bodies
• Efficiency of the legal system in challenging regulations

The Netherlands comes in at third place for this pillar, with New Zealand and Singapore beating it to the top spot. Interestingly for this pillar, New Zealand takes second place, whilst it scores ninth place overall. For the factors AV regulations and government investment in AV infrastructure, the Netherlands got the maximum score.

Consumer acceptance

This pillar is based on four factors, which are:

• Population living in test areas
• Consumer survey data on AV acceptance
• KPMG’s Change Readiness Index people and civil society technology use
• Technology readiness

The Netherlands scores well, taking second place for this pillar, just behind Singapore. The high score obtained by the Netherlands can partly be attributed to the AV tests being carried out in Amsterdam, Eindhoven, Haarlem, Rotterdam and Wageningen, thus putting a high percentage of the population in test areas.

KPMG Autonomous Vehicle Readiness Index Top 10

The following countries made it into the top 10:

1. The Netherlands
2. Singapore
3. United States
4. Sweden
5. United Kingdom
6. Germany
7. Canada
8. United Arab Emirates
9. New Zealand
10. South Korea

For more information take a look at the 2018 AVRI.