Autonomy pivots to gas vehicles to revive car subscription model after EV bet falters

Four years ago, Autonomy announced plans to buy 23,000 EVs from 17 automakers, including Tesla, and offer them through a subscription service. The bet soured within a year when an EV price war, triggered by Elon Musk, slashed the value of Autonomy’s fleet by about a third. The company had barely grown past 1,000 vehicles and founder Scott Painter had to bail it out financially.

Autonomy has survived, but its current fleet numbers just over 500 electric cars, a fraction of the original target. Now it is turning to the powertrain most drivers know best.

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

Autonomy is targeting four customer groups with the gas-powered push: university students, military families, foreign workers, and people seeking a “company car” experience. The company charges a one-time fee (currently $1,000 for EVs) and a monthly price that varies by model, with the option to cancel after one month.

Weick, a 20-year Mercedes-Benz veteran, said rising new-car prices above $50,000 and expensive used cars are making it hard for people with low or no credit to get a vehicle. “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.

Autonomy also operates in Arizona, Florida, Texas, New York, North Carolina and Washington, and said it plans to work with other dealer partners in those markets.

Why This Matters

The pivot illustrates how difficult it has been for EV-only business models to survive price volatility and consumer hesitancy, especially in the subscription space.
Autonomy’s survival strategy — mixing gas and electric vehicles — could become a template for other startups that overcommitted to EVs and now need to hedge.
Vehicle subscriptions remain a niche experiment, but if Autonomy succeeds where others (including major automakers) have retreated, it could reshape how low-credit or mobile consumers access cars.

Background

Autonomy launched in 2022 as a pure-electric vehicle subscription service, promising 23,000 cars from Tesla, GM, Ford and others. But Tesla’s aggressive price cuts in 2023 caused used-EV values to plummet, leaving Autonomy with a fleet that lost roughly a third of its value within months. The company narrowly avoided collapse when founder Scott Painter injected personal funds. Meanwhile, major automakers abandoned or scaled back their own subscription programs, and rival fleet operators like Hertz also struggled with EV fleets, eventually selling off many Teslas.

Key Perspectives

Autonomy (Scott Painter, CEO Fred Weick): The company believes the EV-only bet was a product-market mismatch, not a fundamental flaw in the subscription model. Adding gas cars — and targeting underserved demographics like students, military families and foreign workers — is a pragmatic response to what customers actually want: easy, short-term access without long-term debt or credit hurdles. Critics and skeptics: Autonomy’s subscription fees (a $1,000 upfront charge plus monthly payments) may still be too high for the low-credit customers it targets, especially compared to traditional leasing or buying used. The company has also failed to scale: its original vision of 23,000 vehicles shrank to barely 500 EVs. Dealer partnerships could help expand inventory, but subscription services have a poor track record of profitability. Automakers (Ford): By sourcing gas-powered vehicles through Galpin Motors and other dealers, Ford gains a new distribution channel without committing to subscriptions itself. Automakers have largely backed away from direct subscription offerings, making Autonomy a potential test case for third-party subscription models.

What to Watch

Customer uptake in California and other states: Will the targeted demographics (students, military, foreign workers) actually sign up for gas-powered subscriptions?
Dealership expansion: Autonomy’s ability to replicate the Galpin partnership in Arizona, Texas, Florida and other markets will determine whether the pivot can scale.
Financial sustainability: Whether subscription fees and lower vehicle depreciation (ICE cars hold value better than EVs right now) can keep Autonomy profitable — or at least alive — through 2025.

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