A well-known startup in Croatia is coming to the robotaxi market with the help of Uber

Mate Rimac, founder of Croatian electric vehicle manufacturer Rimac Group, started working on electric robotaxis seven years ago. Now, part of his vision is coming to fruition thanks to a partnership between Uber, the Chinese autonomous ride-hailing company Pony.ai, and his robotaxi startup Verne.

The three companies announced plans on Thursday to launch a commercial robotaxi operation in Europe, starting in Zagreb, Croatia. Pony.ai will offer a self-driving car and robotaxi called the Arcfox Alpha T5 developed by Chinese automaker BAIC. Verne will own and operate the fleet, and Uber will provide its extensive network.

The giant also expressed its willingness to invest in Verne and support its future growth as a strategic partner.

The company did not give an exact date for the start of commercial operations, although road tests in Zagreb – where Rimac Group is based – are already underway.

Verne does not have the same name as Waymo or Tesla – not in the United States. But it has similar and bigger goals.

The Verne began in 2019 as a project called Project 3 Mobility (or P3) within the Rimac Group, a growing corporate ecosystem that includes hypercar manufacturers Rimac Bugatti, Rimac Energy, and Rimac Technology. Mate Rimac owns 23% of the group.

There was a recent update on the project, but it didn’t happen until July 2024 – when Verne started with 100 million euros in support – for people to take a closer look at his plans.

Rimac’s vision has always been that Verne will use urban robotaxis with two-seater electric vehicles. That might sound like an odd job for the man behind the Nevera, an electric car that starts at around $2.2 million. But as he explained to this reporter a few years ago, Rimac didn’t want to build a high-end EV that people could drive – precisely because they believed that autonomous vehicle technology would make the business obsolete.

“It will take a while, but it’s coming, I’m sure of it,” he had told me at the time.

Verne is not building a self-driving car. Instead, the company is focusing on an electric city car, a self-driving car program, and fleet maintenance, including cleaning and maintenance.

Verne plans to manufacture robotaxi EVs at a new factory in Lučko, Croatia, which is expected to start operating later this year.

Verne did not install the two seats, nor did he provide updates on the vehicles he announced with Uber and Pony.ai. The company said in November it had built and tested 60 proof-of-concept prototypes.

Currently, the Verne robotaxi service will use the Pony.ai-BAIC vehicle, the Arcfox Alpha T5. Users will be able to hail one through Uber and through the Verne app.

Verne is getting off to a slow start with the commercial launch, but it has plans to reach “thousands of robotaxis over the next few years,” according to Thursday’s announcement. And his ambitions go beyond the borders of Zagreb, the capital of Croatia and the home of the Rimac Group.

“Europe needs autonomous mobility that can move from experimentation to real work,” Verne CEO Marko Pejkovic said in a statement. “At Verne, we’re bringing together the technology, platforms, and capabilities to make this happen, starting in Zagreb before expanding into new markets.”