We can’t quit electric cars — or robotaxis

There was a time, not so long ago, when people wouldn’t shut up about a revolution in automobiles. No matter where you looked, you’d find someone telling you about how self-driving, all-electric vehicles would change the way we think about car ownership, lead to a total reinvention of how cities work, change the economy, and fix climate change forever. All by roughly 2020.

Obviously things didn’t quite turn out the way the EV and robotaxi boosters hoped. On this episode of The Vergecast, we dig into why. The Verge’s Andy Hawkins joins to explain why the momentum continues to turn against the EV revolution — but why carmakers simply can’t give up the fight, or risk losing it before it even really starts. He also tells us why robotaxis are suddenly cool again, as Uber and Lyft resume their plans to automate ride-sharing everywhere.

Subscribe: Spotify | Apple Podcasts | Overcast | Pocket Casts | More

After that, we pivot to the fediverse. Evan Prodromou, the research director at the Social Web Foundation and one of the people overseeing the ActivityPub protocol, catches us up on all things social. We talk through the rise of Bluesky, what’s going on with Threads, how ambitious the ActivityPub universe is becoming, and what it’ll take to get platforms like YouTube and LinkedIn on board with an open social future.

Finally, we answer a question from the Vergecast Hotline. (Call 866-VERGE11 or email [email protected]!) This one’s not so much a question, actually, as a reaction to our thoughts about the price of the iPhone 16E. Cheaper phones are a good thing!

If you want to know more about everything in this episode, here are some links to get you started: