The Role of IoT Devices in Sustainable Car Expenses in the Context of the Intelligent Mobility: A Comparative Approach

Abstract

Connected cars have often been defined as vehicles that can provide some services and information without human intervention. Several scholars have examined the factors that promote the purchase or adoption of such augmented vehicles. However, little emphasis has been placed on the determinants for reducing car expenditures when a driver owns a car with an Internet of Things (IoT) device or a smart assistant in the context of smart mobility. Therefore, this article analyzes whether emerging technology such as IoT plays a key factor for a driver concerning the expenses related to the car (e.g., insurance, maintenance, and repairs). To this extent, a methodology based on exploratory (i) and confirmatory analysis (ii) was carried out. The authors initially conducted an exploratory phase by means of a Delphi method in which a group of vehicle experts (n = 25) were recruited to give their opinions and reach an agreement defining the determinants that they believed affected vehicle expenditures the most. Secondly, and taking into consideration that the salient determinant from the Delphi method was the use of technology and the warnings and alerts it triggers, a questionnaire was delivered to 556 drivers to analyze the everyday spending on their cars. Specifically, the survey aimed to compare the responses of people who own connected cars or have any kind of built-in IoT infrastructure (n = 302) with those of people with non-connected cars (n = 254). The main conclusion obtained for this latter approach was that drivers with a connected car have remarkably lower car expenses than those driving a conventional car.