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Table of Contents
⚡ This Week’s Big Charge
💡 Meet ‘The Convergence’: The Alignment Of EVs, AI, Robotics And Autonomy
Editor’s Note: I’m taking a break next week for Thanksgiving! Normal service resumes Friday, Dec. 5.
I’m convinced 2025 will be seen as a turning point for autonomous driving. Waymo keeps announcing new city rollouts, Tesla is racing to scale its Robotaxi service despite doubts about its camera-only approach, and new players are cutting major deals with Nvidia, Uber, and others—all while China’s advanced automakers push even further ahead.
You know what you don’t see much in all of this? Gas-powered cars. Robotaxis tend to be EVs—they’re simply a better platform for autonomy, and the ones poised to gain the most from leaps in computing, sensors, and AI.
I call this The Convergence: the collision of EVs, batteries, autonomy, AI, and robotics that will define the auto industry’s future.
But is this what drivers really want? That question’s worth a few hundred billion dollars.
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🔗 The Convergence, Part 1: EVs and AVs
An interesting phenomenon is underway. In America—unlike the rest of the world—EV sales are expected to slow down without tax credits and fuel economy regulations.
Yet demand for autonomous driving assistance systems (ADAS) is on the rise.
A recent AutoPacific study said 43% of new car shoppers want hands-free highway driving, like GM’s Super Cruise, Tesla Autopilot, Ford’s BlueCruise and Rivian’s Enhanced Highway Assist.
For Ford and GM, those systems also come on gas cars. But according to many experts I’ve spoken to, when you consider the power demands, onboard computing needs and over-the-air software updates needed for autonomy, EVs are the better option.
That’s for consumer cars. The prevailing trend in commercial robotaxi fleets is a shift toward EVs for efficiency, sustainability, and lower operating costs.
But that’s only the tip of the iceberg.