The information was revealed by the AutoTECHCAST study, which was conducted last month by Harris Interactive. This showed that one in five Americans would be very likely to purchase a stop start system (21 percent) or an ECO drive assistant (19 percent), as both systems offer an estimated 10 percent increase in fuel economy. Barely one in six owners said that they are very likely to purchase flexible fuel engines (16 percent) or a clean diesel engine (14 percent).
"Consideration for clean diesel engines has been consistent over the past several years of the study, while that of flexible fuel engines has decreased. With the current push of clean diesel by European automakers, we anticipate this will start to increase while consideration for flexible fuel will continue to decrease, especially as other alternative fueled engines continue to come to market," said David Duganne, Sr. Research Director of Harris Interactive Automotive and Transportation Research.
The fully developed fuel efficient powertrains have sparked even less interest, as only one in 25 owners are likely to consider purchasing a hybrid electric (4 percent), fuel cell (4 percent) or plug-in hybrid (4 percent) powertrain and a microscopic 2 percent of those surveyed said that they were likely to purchase a full electric vehicle. However, the natural gas engines have managed to reach a 10 percent level of consideration.
"Although there are some significant entry barriers, we believe that as consumers become more familiar with alternative fuel approaches, and gasoline costs rise, demand will grow," said David Pulaski, Vice President of Harris Interactive Automotive and Transportation Research.
The Harris Interactive 2010 AutoTECHCAST study surveyed a total of 12,225 U.S. adults who own or lease a vehicle and are at least 50% involved in the decision to buy a new vehicle.
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