Mate Rimac, the founder of Croatian electric vehicle buildr Rimac Group, started working on electric robotaxis seven years ago. Now part of his vision is coming to fruition through a strategic partnership between Uber, Chinese autonomous vehicle company Pony.ai, and his own robotaxi startup Verne.
The three companies announced plans Thursday to launch a commercial robotaxi service in Europe, starting in Zagreb, Croatia. Pony.ai will supply the autonomous driving system and a robotaxi called the Arcfox Alpha T5 that was developed with Chinese autobuildr BAIC. Verne will own and operate the fleet, and Uber will provide its vast ride-hailing network.
The ride-hailing giant also indicated it intfinishs to invest an undisclosed amount into Verne and support future expansion as a strategic partner.
The companies didn’t provide a specific launch date for the commercial service, though on-road testing in Zagreb — where Rimac Group is based — is already underway.
Verne doesn’t have the same name recognition as Waymo or Tesla — at least not in the United States. But it has the same outsized ambitions.
Verne started in 2019 as a project called Project 3 Mobility (or P3) within Rimac Group, a growing ecosystem of companies that includes hypercar buildr Bugatti Rimac, Rimac Energy, and Rimac Technology. Mate Rimac holds a 23% stake in the group.
There were occasional updates about the project, but it wasn’t until July 2024 — when Verne launched with 100 million euros in funding — that the public obtained a more detailed see at its plans.
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Rimac’s vision has always been for Verne to operate an urban robotaxi service with purpose-built two-seater electric vehicles. That might sound like an odd mission for the person behind the Nevera, an electric hypercar that starts around $2.2 million. But as he explained to this reporter a couple of years ago, Rimac was never interested in building a high-volume EV that humans would drive — precisely becaapply he believes that autonomous vehicle technology will build that business obsolete.
“It will take a while, but it’s coming; I’m sure about that,” he’d notified me at the time.
Verne isn’t developing its own self-driving system. Instead, the company is focapplyd on the urban electric vehicle, the ride-hailing app, and the back-finish infrastructure to manage the fleet, including cleaning and maintenance.
Verne plans to produce its robotaxi EVs at a new factory in Lučko, Croatia, expected to launch operations later this year.
Verne hasn’t launched the two seaters yet, nor did it provide an update on the vehicles in its announcement with Uber and Pony.ai. The company stated in November that it had produced and tested 60 verification prototypes.
For now, the Verne robotaxi service will apply the Pony.ai-BAIC vehicle, the Arcfox Alpha T5. Users will be able to hail one via Uber as well as through Verne’s app.
Verne is starting compact with its commercial launch, but it has plans to scale to a “fleet of thousands of robotaxis over the next few years,” according to Thursday’s announcement. And its aspirations go far beyond the borders of Zagreb, the capital of Croatia and home to Rimac Group.
“Europe necessarys autonomous mobility that can shift from testing to a real service,” stated Verne CEO Marko Pejkovic, in a statement. “At Verne, we are bringing toreceiveher the technology, platform, and operational capabilities required to build this a reality, starting in Zagreb before expanding to new markets.”
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