Convergence of Autonomous Driving Technology and EV, a disruptive technology

Waymo Robotaxy Fleet on 5G Network

14 min read

The convergence of Autonomous Driving Technologies (ADT) and Electric Vehicles (EVs) is a significant and interconnected component of the circular economy. The ADT maximizes EV lifespan with feature like eco-driving, which optimizes speed and route, and remote monitoring help extend a vehicle’s life by reducing wear and tear on components, including tires and batteries. The higher utilization rate of shared autonomous EVs means fewer cars are needed overall. This directly reduces the demand for raw materials like steel and aluminum in manufacturing. Digital technology, including AI and the Internet of Things (IoT), can improve the traceability of these parts and materials, simplifying recycling and ensuring resources are kept in a closed loop.

Product-as-a-Service (PaaS) business models

Reduced private ownership: The convergence of ADT and EVs is a key enabler of shared mobility services, such as autonomous ride-sharing fleets. This shift from individual vehicle ownership to shared access aligns with the circular economy principle of maximizing a product’s usage.
Facilitated leasing and maintenance: In a PaaS model, manufacturers would retain ownership of batteries. This incentivizes them to design more durable and easily repairable batteries and facilitates their responsible end-of-life (EoL) management, including repurposing and recycling.

End-of-life management for batteries

Optimized battery health: ADT’s ability to precisely monitor vehicle use helps manufacturers manage batteries more effectively. This data can inform decisions on whether a battery is suitable for a “second life” in stationary energy storage or if it needs to be recycled.
Improved recycling processes: ADT and other digital technologies like AI and blockchain can enhance the transparency and efficiency of the battery recycling supply chain. This helps ensure that valuable materials like lithium, nickel, and cobalt are recovered.

Energy efficiency

Smarter charging: The combination of ADT and EVs can create a smarter grid. EVs can act as mobile energy storage, charging during periods of low demand and selling energy back to the grid during peak times. This helps stabilize the grid and promotes the use of renewable energy.
Eco-driving and traffic harmonization: ADT systems enable “eco-driving,” which minimizes energy consumption by reducing harsh acceleration and braking. Additionally, autonomous vehicles can communicate with each other (V2V) and with infrastructure (V2I) to harmonize traffic flow, prevent congestion, and further boost energy efficiency.

The integration of these technologies creates a synergistic effect that promotes resource efficiency, reduces waste, and helps transition away from the linear “take-make-dispose” economic model.

The race to conquer the robotaxi market

Currently, the race to conquer the robot taxi market is intensifying thanks to autonomous driving technology (ADT). New competitors are entering the race: Amazon-Zoox has been offering its free robot taxi service to the public in Las Vegas since September 10, 2025. May Mobility-Lift is challenging Alphabet’s dominance in the city of Atlanta, just three months after Alphabet’s subsidiary began offering driverless rides in partnership with Uber.

Google- Waymo

Waymo, owned by Alphabet (Google), is the leader in ride-hailing thanks to its app present in several American cities, including Phoenix, where it launched its service five years ago, and now in Los Angeles and San Francisco, as well as Austin and Atlanta, thanks to a partnership with Uber. Waymo’s fully autonomous ride-hailing service launched Waymo One, its first commercial operations in Phoenix, Arizona, on December 5, 2018. However, its most significant milestone—the elimination of drivers for public rides, with a truly driverless fleet—began in November 2019.

Waymo’s latest autonomous system, the 6th-generation Waymo Driver, uses an integrated suite of sensors, including cameras, lidars, and radars. The system provides a 360-degree view of the vehicle’s surroundings to ensure safety and redundancy.

Key sensors in Waymo’s 6th-gen suite

Cameras

Quantity: 13 cameras, providing overlapping fields of view.
Technology: High dynamic range and thermal stability, designed to capture sharp images and detail in various conditions.
Performance: Can detect objects and details like stop signs from up to 500 meters away.

Lidars

Quantity: Four lidar sensors.
Technology: Sends millions of laser pulses in all directions to create a detailed 3D map of the environment.

Radars

Quantity: Six radar units.
Technology: Uses millimeter-wave frequencies to measure an object’s distance and speed.
Performance: Effective in adverse weather conditions like fog, rain, and snow, where light-based sensors like cameras and lidar may be limited. Waymo’s system includes a custom-built imaging radar for higher resolution than standard automotive radar.

Microphones

Quantity: External audio receivers are also included in the sensor suite. These are used to detect the location of sirens from emergency vehicles.

The 6th-generation system was optimized to be more cost-effective and scalable than its predecessors, while maintaining and improving performance and safety.

Amazon-owned Zoosx

There is Amazon-owned Zoox (2020 $1.3 billion acquisition) has begun offering their free robotaxi rides service to the public at Las Vegas the 10 September 2025, that is their most ambitious step yet in the push toward commercializing fully autonomous ride-hailing. Zoox actually own only 50 vehicles’ until now at Las Vegas but plans to expand public ride into San Francisco, Miami, Austin, Atlanta, and Los Angeles over the coming year. Their Zoox-mobile unique custom design that operates without a steering wheel or pedals is a bi-directional and comes with a four-wheel steering, which enables manoeuvring through compact spaces in a modern urban and can transport up to four passengers, who are seated face-to-face in a carriage-style configuration. They deserve only five designated pickup and drop-off destinations until now because they need regulatory approval before it could charge for them, these designations including Las Vegas landmarks like Resorts World Las Vegas, AREA15, Topgolf, New York New York, and Luxor. Anyone with the Zoox app can book free rides between five designated locations. Zoox’s sensor architecture emphasizes redundancy and diversity by using multiple sensor types with overlapping coverage to eliminate blind spots.

High-sensor count: Includes eight laser lidars, 10 radar units, 18 cameras, four thermal cameras, and eight external microphones to detect its surroundings.
Thermal cameras: Detect people and animals in low visibility conditions like fog, steam, or low light.
360-degree coverage: A network of sensors on all four corners provides comprehensive, 360-degree visibility.
External microphones: Detect sounds from emergency vehicles.

That’s similar to Waymo’s current sensor array, though the company is shifting to a new lower-cost sensor suite who’s introduced its 6th-generation hardware:

Fewer components: The newer setup uses a reduced number of sensors, including 13 cameras, four lidars, and six radars.
Variety and redundancy: The suite includes lidar, cameras, radar, and external audio receivers, providing a multi-dimensional view of the world.
All-weather capability: The system includes adaptable sensor cleaning for reliable performance in adverse conditions like snow or freezing rain.
Advanced AI: Waymo uses sophisticated AI models to process sensor data, predict behavior, and plan routes.

By contrast, Tesla is promoting the idea that Tesla’s autonomous driving system can safely operate with just eight cameras and ultrasonic sensors that cost a fraction as much as the tech Zoox and Waymo use. Elon Musk is launching a pilot program in Austin, claiming that Tesla can overtake Alphabet because Tesla’s autonomous driving unit uses a much cheaper system. Tesla has been investigated by U.S. regulators for multiple fatal accidents involving its Autopilot and Full-Self Driving features which are not driverless systems. While these features enhance the driving experience by automating functions like steering, acceleration, and lane changes, they necessitate a fully attentive driver with their hands on the wheel, ready to take over at any moment. The capabilities of these systems are designed to improve over time, with the ultimate goal of achieving full autonomy, which will depend on technological advances and regulatory approvals.

That’s why Waymo, Zoox, May Mobility, and Apollo Platform use multiple technologies such as lidars, radars, ultrasonics, cameras, and external audio receivers, providing a multidimensional view of the world and, as a result, potentially preventing a large number of accidents. As mention by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) who’s estimated that 94% of motor vehicle crashes are caused by human error. Autonomous systems are programmed to react consistently and do not experience fatigue, emotion, or distraction. This enables faster and more reliable responses to hazards than most human drivers can achieve. Studies have indicated that AVs are better at avoiding crashes involving injuries to pedestrians and cyclists.

Here a new rival in this area to compete with the other Robotaxi compagnies, May Mobility is joining with Lyft to challenge Alphabet unit’s hold in Atlanta city, just three months after the Alphabet unit began offering driverless rides in parentship with Uber. The May-Lyft team allowing customers to hail May Mobility’s autonomous Toyota Sienna minivans through the regular Lyft app within the Midtown area. The pilot features vehicles with human standby operators who can take control if needed, though their intervention is expected to decrease over time. This program uses May Mobility’s “Multi-Policy Decision Making” (MPDM) platform to manage driving scenarios in real-time, with plans to expand service hours and availability in the future.

ADT use multiple technologies

May Mobility-Lift

Volkswagen with Mobileye

Here is another competitor, Volkswagen with Mobileye have announced that they will launch their ID.Buzz with autonomous driving in 2026. That will be a fully autonomous electric van developed in partnership with Mobileye, which provides the vehicle’s Mobileye Drive platform. This Level 4 autonomous vehicle uses a comprehensive suite of 27 sensors (cameras, LiDAR, and radar) and will be marketed as a turnkey solution for mobility service providers. Initial rollouts will occur in the U.S., with plans to expand to European markets. Volkswagen is partnering with Uber to deploy these robotaxis, beginning with a significant launch in Los Angeles.

WeRide (Autonomous Driving Technology) and Grab an Asian ride hailing app

Grab actively pursuing the integration of autonomous vehicles (AVs) into its dominant ride-hailing network in Southeast Asia. In August 2025, Grab announced a strategic equity investment in WeRide, a global Autonomous Driving Technology company. The partnership aims to deploy Level 4 robotaxis and shuttles across Southeast Asia, integrating WeRide’s technology into Grab’s platform for efficient vehicle dispatch and routing. The investment is expected to be finalized by mid-2026.

https://www.weride.ai/ and https://www.grab.com/sg/

Last but not least, the Asian search engine Baidu

Baidu that is the Asian Google version that offer a range of services, with its core product being a search engine and therefore, have collect a massive data of the real world that help them to improve their AI model. But it’s also a leading developer and operator of autonomous driving technology through its Apollo Go robotaxi service, which offers ride-hailing in major Chinese cities like Beijing and Wuhan where they have a large fleet of operational robotaxis and is expanding to international markets like Dubai and Europe, through partnerships with companies such as Uber and Lyft. The service utilizes the Apollo Go platform (an open-source autonomous driving platform and a ride hailing app) to enable operations from vehicles with safety drivers to increasingly unmanned robotaxis. Baidu is focused on lowering production costs for its autonomous vehicles and is also developing a comprehensive AI ecosystem for transportation.

Vehicle Technology:

Level 4 Autonomy: Baidu’s latest autonomous vehicles are designed for Level 4 autonomy, requiring no human intervention.
Key Features: The vehicles are equipped with advanced sensors and AI for perception, and can be customized to offer various driving modes.
Robotics and Autonomous Driving Lab (RAL): Baidu has a research lab focused on advancing state-of-the-art robotics and autonomous driving through a multi disciplinary approach to bridge the gap between research and industry.

Strategic Paterships:

Uber and Lyft: Baidu has partnered with global ride-hailing giants Uber and Lyft to bring its autonomous driving technology to more users worldwide.
CATL: Baidu has a strategic partnership with CATL to accelerate AI innovation and the popularization of autonomous mobility services.
Note: EV Batteries builder and their volume rank first in the world for eight consecutive years.

Baidu Autonomous Robotaxis use a combination of lidar, radar, and cameras, along with other sensors, in their Autonomous Driving Technology. They do not rely on just one type of sensor for their Robotaxi Service Apollo Go. This use of “sensor fusion” combines the strengths of each sensor type to build a more accurate and reliable understanding of the vehicle’s surroundings.

Examples of the sensor array on Baidu’s autonomous taxis:

Apollo RT6: This generation of robotaxi, unveiled in 2022, is equipped with a total of 38 sensors, which includes eight lidar sensors, twelve cameras, and six millimeter-wave radars.
Apollo Moon: This fifth-generation vehicle includes thirteen cameras, five millimeter-wave radars, and one lidar.
Lidar (Light Detection and Ranging): Uses pulsed laser light to create detailed 3D maps of the surrounding environment, and Baidu has a partnership with the lidar company Hesai.
Cameras: Provide high-resolution visual data to detect objects, read traffic lights, and recognize pedestrians.
Radar: Uses radio waves to measure the range, velocity, and angle of objects, which is effective in poor weather conditions.
Ultrasonic sensors: Used for short-range detection, such as parking maneuvers.
Baidu is certainly, the first rival of Waymo with their advanced technology development since 2017. In 2022, they begin rolling out fully driverless ride-hailing services (with no human drivers in the car) in Chongqing and Wuhan and the company also unveils its fully electric, mass-produced robotaxi, the Apollo RT6, which has a detachable steering wheel. As of February 2025, Apollo Go has transitioned to 100% fully driverless operations across China.

Convergence of Autonomous Driving Technology and Electric Vehicles, a disruptive technology

There is therefore no doubt that many developments are underway in this field and that several players have already set up on-demand transport services using Autonomous Driving Technology and Electric Vehicles equipped with overlapping multi-sensor technology to eliminate blind spots, which corresponds to level 4, enabling normal driving conditions and scenarios to be managed in mapped urban areas.

Thus, this convergence of Autonomous Driving System and EV will have exponential effect and will eventually replace the current public transport or taxi services to become a TAAS (Transport as a Service) owned by FLEETS simply by using Waymo, Zoox, Uber, Lyft, Apollo Go or Grab app.

This convergence is already happening all over the world and its not just a energy transition, it’s a disruptive technology which will have a major impact on the number of vehicles on the road, as the need to own a car will become obsolete, reducing air and sound pollution (90 % decrease in CO2 emissions), traffic flow and improving mobility, as experts such as Tony Sebia have estimated the cost per mile at 0.10$ us dollar per mile. You will therefore be able to take out a monthly subscription for $100. which will significantly reduce your annual transportation costs as you will no longer have to pay for gas, maintenance, assurance, ticket, registration and licenses saving around 5000$ per year. That will not only be a fully autonomous level 5 driving system, but rather a 5G network of Autonomous Driving Technology that will communicate with each other (V2V) and with infrastructure (V2I) to make road traffic completely wipe out.

Of course, the Covid pandemic have delayed a bit the Tony Sebia’s forecast in his 2019 YouTube video but, the major disruption in transportation around 2030 is still on the path. As mentioned in his video, any disruptive technology follows a s-curve (Exponential Effect) and take 10 years to be fully adopted, and these predictions are coming true faster than we think. While the economic case for TaaS becomes compelling around 2030, the complete conversion of the vehicle fleet and the end of car ownership will take longer.

Here is the Tony Sebia Video: