The new FEV Consulting study covers future market potential, an evaluation of the functional range, and new concept ideas for Eco-Coaching systems. Growth rates of up to 60% annually are considered realistic for innovative assistance systems. Simultaneously, such systems have the potential to reduce real-world fuel and CO2 consumption by six to twelve percent.
The market analysis and forecast model reveals large differences in different geographic regions as well as among the various vehicle manufacturers. “Our study shows that all current systems are missing more sophisticated functions, individual motivation concepts and connectivity,” explains Alexander Nase, Managing Director at FEV Consulting. “For this reason, there is considerable untapped potential for fuel and CO2 emissions reductions.”
The results of the study can be downloaded for free at www.fev.com/consulting-studies.
In addition to purely technical optimization levers, environmentally friendly driving behavior is one of the biggest factors in reducing real-world fuel consumption and CO2 emissions. “Eco-Coaches” visualize the impact of driving behavior on the fuel consumption and show how they can be further improved. Compared to any other efficiency improvement measure, it comes at almost zero additional component cost. FEV Consulting estimates that a real fuel savings of six to twelve percent is a realistic range. However, these are not considered in today’s consumption-test cycles.
Promising market outlook for Eco-Coach systems
For the global Eco-Coach market, experts estimate an annual growth of between nine percent for acceleration and brake assist and 60 percent in the form of mobile Apps. Demand is being primarily driven by electrification of powertrains, connectivity, increasing customer acceptance and evolving customer buying patterns. There are, however, large differences between the EU, North America and China. This is due to, among other things, differences in the rate of adoption for powertrain electrification.
Predictive functions depend on the future market penetration of navigation system. Third-party or native mobile applications bypass these limitations but lack essential vehicle data to show basic functions like sailing or gas pedal position.
Further development of concepts and functionalities
FEV Consulting has analyzed and evaluated today’s production systems. The resulting “Eco-Coach and Gamification Index” shows large gaps in the functional scope and maturity of the assistance systems: “All of the systems that were evaluated have large improvement potential to influence the driver’s behavior in a positive and sustainable way,” Nase states. The experts expect most of the improvements in the area of predictive functions, customized engagement concepts – such as online competitions – flexible and situation-based functions, connectivity and seamless interaction with mobile devices.
Gamification as key to success
The gaming industry already has several decades of experience with regard to forecasting user behavior, motivation patterns and manipulation techniques. Today, the top computer games are using nearly five times as many game mechanics for sustainable motivation compared with the current Eco-Coaches that are implemented in motor vehicles. The study concludes that the incorporation of proven game mechanics could be the key to sustainable success motivation.
