然而，电动车与自动驾驶计程车的崛起将对传统的道路救援业务带来三大挑战。首先，自动驾驶车辆的事故率远低于人类驾驶，这将冲击 AA 的事故救援业务；其次，电动化车队可靠性较高，机械故障率大幅降低；第三，共享自动驾驶计程车使用率高且能预先侦测故障，并将使 AA 面临与大型车队运营商（如 Google 和 Tesla）谈判的局面，而非以往的个体家庭。
这些挑战预计将在未来数十年间逐渐展开，因为英国有大约三分之二的车辆行驶里程发生在城市之外，自动驾驶计程车在这些区域难以快速普及。AA 预测到 2045 年英国道路上仅有 15 万辆自动驾驶计程车，但若此预测过于乐观，该公司未来可能需要面临更为严峻的生存危机。
The UK roadside recovery service AA has undergone a successful financial turnaround under the ownership of private equity firms TowerBrook, Warburg Pincus, and Stonepeak. Since being taken private in 2021, the company has seen an 11 percent annual revenue growth, an increase in its customer base, and a reduction in net debt, prompting its owners to consider returning the business to the public markets.
However, the emergence of electric vehicles and robotaxis poses three major threats to the traditional roadside recovery model. Autonomous cabs crash significantly less often, electric vehicle fleets are demonstrating much higher reliability with fewer mechanical breakdowns, and connected autonomous fleets can detect faults early and navigate to depots before breaking down, while shifting bargaining power to large fleet operators like Google and Tesla.
These structural challenges will unfold over decades rather than years, as about two-thirds of UK vehicle miles are driven outside urban areas where autonomous ride-hailing is slow to gain traction. The AA projects only 150,000 robotaxis on UK roads by 2045, a forecast they must hope is not overly optimistic if they wish to avoid their own operational breakdown.