GoKawiilis transportation editor with 10+ years of experience who covers EVs, public transportation, and aviation. His work has appeared in The New York Daily News and City & State.
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Uber is joining forces with two companies, China’s Pony AI and Croatia’s Verne, to launch what it claims will be Europe’s first commercially available robotaxi service. The vehicles are already being tested in Zagreb, Croatia, where Verne is headquartered, and will soon be available to customers on Uber’s ridehail network.
The announcement is the latest move by Uber to shield itself from the financial blowback of robotaxis potentially overtaking the traditional ridehail business. The company has allied itself with dozens of autonomous vehicle developers over the past year in an attempt to persuade investors that it can survive the impending robotaxi era.
Its latest partners are Pony AI, which is currently operating autonomous vehicles in a number of Chinese cities, and Verne, which spun off of supercar maker Rimac. Under the terms of the deal, Uber will provide the ridehail network, along with the customers; Verne will manage the fleet; and Pony AI will develop the autonomous driving technology. The first service will be in Zagreb, with more European markets to follow. And the ultimate goal is to scale the fleet to “thousands of robotaxis” over the next few years.
Currently, the companies are validating the technology on the streets of Zagreb using Pony AI’s Arcfox Alpha T5 Robotaxi, equipped with the Chinese company’s 7th generation technology stack. The vehicle was jointly developed and manufactured with state-owned Beijing Automotive Group Co (BAIC). Once the companies start charging fares, they anticipate it being Europe’s first commercial robotaxi service.
As for Verne, there haven’t been many updates since it was first announced as a robotaxi side project to Rimac. Mate Rimac, the founder and CEO of Rimac Group, showed off a fleet of 60 prototype autonomous vehicles late last year. Whether those vehicles ever end up in Uber’s fleet, though, is an open question.