Ridesharing Forum has followed this report the minute the news about Uber driving across Croatia broke out, and the team did a follow-up story on Pony.ai, playing a huge role and owning a huge stake in this deal.
Now, these Uber robotaxis in Zagreb, Croatia are live! Woo-hooo!
A few weeks ago, Uber announced it would be launching its historic, first robotaxis in Europe with the market focus being Croatia.
Under this setup, there are two other companies at play: Pony.ai and Verne. China-owned Pony.ai, which is also listed on the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong and NASDAQ, will supply its seventh-generation autonomous driving technology, deployed on Arcfox Alpha T5 cars developed with the state-owned Beijing Automotive Group. Meanwhile, there’s Verne, a spin-off from Rimac, a Croatian supercar maker, to act as the fleet owner and day-to-day operator.
The CEO of Uber, Dara Khosrowshahi, told Ridesharing Forum, “Through a strong ecosystem of partnerships, autonomous mobility can both scale globally and more effectively. By bringing together Pony.ai’s proven autonomous driving technology, Verne’s operational and market expertise, and Uber’s global platform, we’re taking an important step towards making autonomous ride-hailing available to more riders in more places.”
The deal is now live, alive, and kicking!
Yesterday, April 8th, Pony.ai rolled out a commercial robotaxi system driving around Zagreb, the beautiful destination in Croatia, together with Verne and Uber, making what the trio-companies describe as the first publicly-accessible robotaxi deployment in Europe.
Residents, consumers, and passengers in the Croatian capital may now book these robotaxis, not primarily on the Uber app, but through the official app of Verne, which – you don’t have to worry – is integrated with Uber’s platform.
In the initial stage, the robotaxis will cover around 90 square kilometers, which includes central Zagreb and the airport nearby. And, however, it is operating only from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. The three companies will plan to gradually expand the coverage area to encompass the entire city.
This official launch is very proactive, as it came only two weeks after the deal was announced, underscoring the ability of Pony.ai to quickly deploy its autonomous driving system in fresh markets.
Furthermore, this move likewise advances the company’s dual-engine strategies, which combine technological development with commercial scaling.
Following its latest progress in achieving unit-car-level breakeven for its seventh-generation robotaxis fleet in major Chinese cities such as Guangzhou and Shenzhen, Pony.ai is now taking big steps further for its commercial footprint in Europe. This, to test the adaptability and scalability of its innovation and business models across diverse regulatory and operating environments.
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