Croatian Startup Verne Launches Robotaxi Service With Uber and Pony.ai

Zagreb: A small Croatian company called Verne is starting a robotaxi service in Zagreb with help from big partners. Verne makes electric cars that drive themselves. The company is working with Uber, which helps people get rides, and Pony.ai, which makes the self-driving technology.

Verne began as a project inside Rimac Group, a company that makes electric cars and battery technology. The founder, Mate Rimac, believes cars will drive themselves in the future. Instead of making regular electric cars that people drive, he wants to make robotaxis that don’t need drivers.

The robotaxis will use cars made by Pony.ai and a Chinese car company called BAIC. These cars are called Arcfox Alpha T5. People in Zagreb will be able to get rides through Uber or the Verne app. The service will start small but grow to thousands of robotaxis in the next few years.

Verne is building a factory in Croatia to make its own robotaxis. These special cars will have only two seats and run on electricity. Right now, Verne is using the Arcfox cars while it prepares to make its own. The company wants to bring this service to more cities across Europe after it proves it works in Zagreb.