There is no need for the car to make pre-set stops. First, take a programmable electric car charged before Shabbat. It is programmed to, say travel to the Synagogue from the home at, say, 8:15 am and return at 12:30pm irrespective of whether it is occupied or unoccupied. It opens the doors automatically.
Scenario 1:
Since I haven’t heard anyone raising objections to the following variables on Shabbat:
a) The number of heat emitting bodies (humans) in an air conditioned room set by way of a thermostat.
b) The opening and closing of vertical refrigerator doors.
c) The placing of warm material in a cold refrigerator.
d) Opening a window when there is a thermostatically controlled heater.
Then the additional consumption of power due to the increased mass of the car by passengers (increased current flow) through the car’s electric motors should not be of concern. This differs from opening a hot-water faucet on Shabbat since a water-heater has only on-off possibilities. A fire that was ignited before Shabbat may burn at a greater or lesser rate once Shabbat commences depending on multiple variable externalities. This is what separates halachic Shabbat observance from the sect (whose name I don’t readily remember) who forbade fires to be lit before Shabbat if they would burn over Shabbat. They spent Shabbat in darkness. Also, if it was intended before Shabbat that there would be an inclusive passenger mass of the car, then if the intended passengers did not board it, then would be classified as a reduced current flow / power consumption which cannot be a chillul Shabbat (surely Quantum physics attests to this). In any case the variations imposed by fluctuations in traffic density and time delays at intersections would increase sufficient uncertainty in much the same way that a air-conditioner would work more or less hard on a hot or cool day.
Scenario 2:
The car calculates the mean expected power for the whole trip for the expected mass inclusive of passengers and only applies the total current or less over the entire trip. This is messy and unnecessary for the the reasons given above. For the sake of the trip the car should be “dumb” to all variables and simply perform the job it was programmed to do before Shabbat.
PS: The perceptive will note that I use the acceptable English spelling of “programmed” The author is a resident of the “land down under” – Australia!
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