(Image Credit: iStockPhoto/DNY59)

A survey carried out by HPL Motors has found an increasing appetite for a subscription to a driverless car service – which could mean the end of vehicle ownership for many. 

One in four of the participants responded they would sell their vehicle in favour of a driverless car subscription. With an increasing amount of traffic on the road – making journey times slower whilst increasing environmental damage – people are looking for viable alternatives. Car pooling – where several people share a single vehicle – has become more popular in recent years and services like Uber have offered significant discounts to customers who don't mind sharing a vehicle with others.

“It’s hard to argue that driverless cars won’t be the biggest disruptor that the motoring industry has ever encountered. We’re already seeing an upturn in the popularity of convenient car share schemes and the emergence of autonomous cars could completely overhaul the way we get from A to B,” comments Jonathan Herman, Managing Director at HPL Motors.

Younger people are more likely to embrace driverless cars, with 34 percent of 18 – 24-year-olds stating they would join a driverless car membership scheme. The wariness from the older generation to adopt driverless cars has been highlighted in past research, and it's been echoed in HPL's research with just 18 percent of 35 – 44-year-olds happy to part with their own car. 

The idea of a driverless car sharing scheme has been publicly discussed by Tesla founder Elon Musk who envisions your car – if you own one – being put to work on your behalf and earning money by shuttling other nearby users to their destinations when it's not in use. 

It will likely be some time before we see  car subscriptions available – with the first driverless cars not expected to be available for purchase until 2025. After release, it will likely take even longer before people have enough trust in them to hand over manual control – especially when they have children in the car. 

A study undertaken by IAM RoadSmart showed that 65% of motorists believe the driver should always be in control of a self-driving vehicle. A separate piece of research by What Car? found that one in four people – a similar number to those who are in favour of driverless subscription schemes – would be happy to sleep inside an autonomous car as it travelled along. 

“We’re likely to see more semi-autonomous driving systems being introduced in the coming years, and this might help to make the migration to fully-driverless cars more seamless. However, most people will still be extremely wary of completely relinquishing control of their vehicle," added Herman. 

Do you think driverless car subscriptions will become popular? Let us know in the comments.