The Netherlands has topped the KPMG Autonomous Vehicles Readiness Index (AVRI), as it did last year, proving it to be one of the readiest countries in the world for the introduction of driverless vehicles.

2019 KPMG Autonomous Vehicles Readiness Index

This year brings us the second edition of the AVRI, which now includes five new countries, bringing the total number of countries assessed to 25. The index evaluates countries according to 25 factors, which are divided under four pillars. As with the previous edition, these pillars are policy and legislation, technology and innovation, infrastructure, and consumer acceptance.

Each pillar has an equal weight in the overall score for a country and variables grouped under a pillar are also given equal weight for the overall pillar score. This year, the number of factors per pillar differs, as some that were previously used have been removed and some new ones have been added.

Policy and legislation

This pillar is made up of the following seven equally weighted factors, one of which is new for the 2019 AVRI.

• AV regulations
• AV department within government transport department
• Effectiveness of law-making bodies
• KPMG Change Readiness government capability
• Efficiency of the legal system in challenging regulations
• Number of government-funded AV pilots
• Assessment of data-sharing environment

For this pillar, the Netherlands ranked 5th. This is rather noteworthy, as last year, the Netherlands ranked 4th or higher on all pillars. When it comes to policy and legislation, Singapore takes the top spot, with the highest score on five of the seven above-mentioned factors. The UK comes in second for this pillar, followed by New Zealand and Finland.

The Netherlands shares the top score with Singapore, Finland and Australia for AV regulations and also scores particularly well on the number of government-funded AV pilots. With an aggregate score of 7,27, it is just beaten by Finland, which receives a score of 7,30. The gap between New Zealand and Finland (3rd and 4th place) is rather large, with New Zealand scoring 7,53.

Technology and innovation

In this year’s edition, this pillar comprises seven equally weighted factors, as opposed to the nine that were used in 2018.

• Industry partnerships
• AV tech firm HQ
• AV-related patents
• Investment in AV-related firms
• Availability of the latest technology
• Capacity for innovation
• Market share of electric cars

For this pillar, the Netherlands comes in 10th, with Israel taking the lead, followed by Norway, the United States, Germany, Japan, Sweden, South Korea, Finland and the UK. Israel is a clear winner in this category, taking the top score (adjusted for population) for industry partnerships, AV tech firm HQ and investment in AV-related firms.

The Netherlands scores well on the availability of the latest technology, however, Finland gets top marks for this factor. According to the index, Japan scores the highest when it comes to AV-related patents and the United States comes in first for capacity for innovation. First place for the factor market share of electric cars goes to Norway.

Infrastructure

This pillar score is calculated based on the following six equally weighted factors, which are identical to last year.

• Electronic vehicle charging stations
• GSMA Global Connectivity Index for Infrastructure
• 4G coverage
• Quality of roads
• Logistic Performance Index (LPI) Infrastructure score
• KPMG Change Readiness technology infrastructure score

The Netherlands take 1st place for this pillar; a clear winner with a score of 7,72, followed by Singapore (6,62), Japan (6,48), South Korea (6,23) and the United Arab Emirates (5,88). Scaled for the size of its road network, the Dutch country has the most electronic vehicle charging stations and consistently high scores on the other factors grouped under this pillar. Despite coming in first, the Netherlands does not, however, have the highest scores on all the factors.

In fact, the highest score for the GSMA Global Connectivity Index for Infrastructure goes to Singapore and the top score for 4G coverage is awarded to South Korea. The United Arab Emirates even gets the highest mark for both quality of roads and the KPMG Change Readiness technology infrastructure score; it does, however, fall down when it comes to other factors.

Consumer acceptance

In the 2019 AVRI, this pillar contains five equally weighted factors, with added consumer opinions and ride-hailing market penetration moving under this pillar instead of technology and innovation.

• Consumer survey on AV acceptance
• Percent of population living in test areas
• KPMG Change Readiness technology use sub-index
• Technology readiness
• Ridesharing market penetration

The Netherlands ranks in 2nd place for this pillar, as it did last year. Similarly to the 2018 edition, Singapore takes first place for consumer acceptance. Singapore does particularly well, as all of the city-state’s population lives in a test area. The Netherlands, in second place, takes the top marks for technology readiness. Coming in at 3rd place is Norway, followed by Sweden and Finland.

Top 10 2019 autonomous vehicle ready countries

This year’s top 10 is as follows:

1. The Netherlands
2. Singapore
3. Norway
4. United States
5. Sweden
6. Finland
7. United Kingdom
8. Germany
9. United Arab Emirates
10. Japan

For more information, see the 2019 AVRI.