Ten years ago, two technologies were racing towards a finish line. The adoption of one didn't lock out the other, they weren't competing with each other The order of the finish was important.
Electric cars had to win.
When it was clear which one would take the checkered flag, it wasn't clear. Since the first vehicles cautiously completed the Grand Challenge in 2007, they seem to have gained a lot of traction. Everyone had a self- driving division ten years ago.
Electric cars were off to a slow start. It is possible for early models to go less than 100 miles per charge on batteries. The Model S was priced outside the majority of the U.S. car market. The picture didn't change much by the year.
Five years later, it's a different story.
EV's have been ahead of the cars. Many mundane driving scenarios have been conquered by self-driving vehicles, but they are often stymied by other situations that human drivers navigate on a daily basis.
The public is able to use the taxi services that are open to them, but they are only available in parts of San Francisco and Tempe. Each metro area has its own quirks. It won't be easy to move to a new place. Just six years ago, the majority of rides on the network would be self-sufficient, but now only 1% to 10% of future rides will be that way.
EV's have been in charge. In the early 2010s, the price of a kilowatt-hour of battery was over $1,000. The battery industry is racing to build a global network of factories as investors pour money into battery startup.
Since the introduction of the Model S, prices have come down and the number of models has increased. There has been an increase in sales in Europe, China and the U.S. in the wake of legislative and regulatory action that is cementing batteries as the go-to energy source for cars.
The two trends are not far apart.
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