Autonomy pivots to gas vehicles to keep the dream of car subscriptions alive

Four years ago, California startup Autonomy pledged to buy 23,000 EVs from 17 automakers, including Tesla, and make them available as part of a vehicle subscription service. It was a combination of two trends that had taken off in the early 2020s.

It didn’t work out.

Within a year, Autonomy was almost out of business, largely due to an EV price war started by Elon Musk, who was trying to keep Tesla competitive against a rush of new electric vehicles. Autonomy’s fleet, which had barely grown past 1,000 vehicles, lost around a third of its value. Founder Scott Painter (who also created TrueCar) had to more or less bail out the company while major automakers abandoned their own plans for vehicle subscriptions.

The startup has stayed alive, however, and it hasn’t given up on vehicle subscriptions. Instead, Autonomy said on Wednesday that it is adding internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles to its fleet for the first time, and is betting the pivot towards a more familiar powertrain will bring in customers.

“If you’re going to be successful in anything, you’ve got to give the customer what the customer wants,” Autonomy’s CEO, Fred Weick, told TechCrunch in an exclusive interview. “There’s very few examples, I think, in history, of creating things customers didn’t know they wanted.”

The new lineup will feature gas-powered Ford vehicles like the Mustang, Ranger and F-150 pickups, as well as SUVs like the Bronco Sport, Escape and Explorer. Autonomy is sourcing the vehicles from Los Angeles-based Galpin Motors and making them available to customers in California. The company also operates in Arizona, Florida, Texas, New York, North Carolina and Washington, and said it will work with other dealer partners in these markets.

Autonomy is renewing its bet on vehicle subscriptions at a time when new car prices soar above $50,000. Used cars are getting more expensive, too.

Weick, who spent more than 20 years at Mercedes-Benz, said rising prices are making it harder for people with low credit scores — or no access to credit at all — to get a vehicle. His company charges a one-time fee (currently $1,000 for the EVs) and then a set price per month, which varies depending on the make and model. After one month, customers can cancel the subscription at any time.

Weick said Autonomy is targeting four types of customers with this push into ICE vehicles: university students, military families, foreign workers, and people who want a “company car” experience.

“The crux of the interest is easy and quick access to mobility without all the headaches that come with the old school” way of buying cars, he said. “The past [business] models were all about trying to fit a new concept into old shoes, and that doesn’t work.”

Weick said Autonomy is still seeing interest for EVs, especially in California. The company currently maintains a fleet of a little more than 500 electric cars, which is far from the 23,000 it had promised in 2022. But it’s hardly the only fleet company to have fumbled the transition. Hertz claimed in 2021 that it was going to buy as many as 100,000 Teslas (and more from other automakers), but wound up selling a majority of them in 2024 in favor of gas vehicles.