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Are all autonomous cars electric?

One minute, I hear about the push by automakers to switch to electric vehicles. The next minute, I hear that soon we won’t be driving them at all. I’m confused. Are all autonomous cars also electric cars? Do the changes have anything to do with each other?

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Andrew Koole · Updated on
Reviewed by Shannon Martin, Licensed Insurance Agent.
That’s a good question; you’re clearly paying attention! To answer it, whether or not all autonomous cars are electric depends on the degree of autonomy that you’re talking about. Full autonomy is the latest idea making its way into the auto industry, and we’re still in the first stage of the electric revolution. Most modern cars have a certain level of autonomy, whether that be safety features like lane-keep assist or your basic version of cruise control. Obviously, not all of these vehicles are electric vehicles (EVs). However, automakers have not yet produced a fully autonomous car. The closest thing to a fully autonomous car that you can buy right now is a
Tesla
equipped with the company’s Full Self-Driving system. While the system can perform most driving activities on its own, those in the driver’s seat still need to be attentive while the program is running. Tesla only builds fully electric vehicles, but their level of autonomy and their electric powertrains are two separate features. So technically, a different company could beat Tesla in getting a fully autonomous vehicle to market using a model that still relies on gas, but that’s pretty unlikely. Most technological advances in the auto industry make the cost of your car go up. But that doesn’t have to be true for car insurance. The high-tech way that
Jerry
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