Mate Rimac, founder of Croatian electric vehicle manufacturer Rimac Group, started working on electric robotaxi seven years ago. Now, part of his vision is coming to fruition through a strategic partnership between Uber, Chinese self-driving car company Pony.ai, and his own robotaxi startup, Verne.
Three companies announced plans to launch commercial robotaxi services in Europe on Thursday, starting with Zagreb, Croatia. Pony.ai will supply an autonomous driving system developed with Chinese automaker BAIC and a robotaxi called Arcfox Alpha T5. Verne will own and operate the fleet, while Uber will provide its extensive ride-hailing network.
The ride-hailing giant also revealed plans to invest an undisclosed amount in Verne and support its future expansion as a strategic partner.
Road testing is already underway in Zagreb, where Rimac Group is based, but the company has not provided a specific launch date for commercial service.
Verne doesn’t recognize names like Waymo or Tesla, at least not in the United States. But it has the same big ambitions.
Verne was launched in 2019 as a project called Project 3 Mobility (or P3) within the Rimac Group, a growing ecosystem of companies that includes hypercar manufacturer Rimac Bugatti, Rimac Energy and Rimac Technology. Mate Rimac holds a 23% stake in the group.
There have been occasional updates on the project, but it wasn’t until July 2024, when Verne launched with €100 million in funding, that the public was able to get a closer look at the plans.
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Rimac’s vision has always been for Verne to operate an urban robotaxi service using a purpose-built two-seater electric vehicle. This might sound like an odd mission for the man behind the Nevera, an electric hypercar that starts at around $2.2 million. But as he explained to this reporter a few years ago, Rimac had no interest in building high-capacity EVs for humans to drive. That’s because he believed autonomous vehicle technology would make the business obsolete.
“It will take some time, but it will come soon, I’m sure,” he told me at the time.
Verne does not develop its own autonomous driving systems. Instead, the company is focusing on back-end infrastructure for urban electric vehicles, ride-hailing apps, and fleet management, including cleaning and maintenance.
Verne plans to produce robotaxi EVs at a new plant in Ludzko, Croatia, which is expected to begin operations later this year.
Verne has yet to launch a two-seat vehicle, nor did it provide any updates on the vehicle in its announcements with Uber and Pony.ai. The company said in November that it had produced and tested 60 validation prototypes.
Currently, the Verne robotaxi service uses the Arcfox Alpha T5, a Pony.ai-BAIC vehicle. Users can make calls through Uber and Verne’s own apps.
Verne started small with its commercial launch, but plans to expand to a “fleet of thousands of robotaxi over the next few years,” according to Thursday’s announcement. And that desire extends far beyond the borders of Zagreb, Croatia’s capital and home of the Rimac Group.
“Europe needs autonomous mobility that can move from testing to real-world service,” Verne CEO Marko Pejkovic said in a statement. “At Verne, we are consolidating the technology, platform and operational capabilities needed to make this a reality, starting in Zagreb before expanding into new markets.”
