Following last week’s big UK robotaxi news – that the government has officially opened applications for fleet operators – it was pointed out that similar commercial services are already up and running in China, the US, and Zagreb. Hang on a minute – what’s that last one?!
In April, Verne, the robotaxi brand of Croatian vehicle manufacturer Rimac, put out a press release titled “Verne launches Europe’s first commercial robotaxi service.”
It emphasised that “members of the public can now book and pay for Pony.ai-powered autonomous rides through the Verne app” and that “the service will soon also be available through the Uber app, following a recently announced strategic partnership between the three companies”.
Sounds great. However, while many media outlets simply parroted the ‘Euro robotaxi race winner’ line, others, notably France 24 via the Agence France-Presse (AFP) news agency, delved a bit deeper.
“Verne’s service is intended to be fully autonomous, with a human “operator” temporarily behind the wheel during the current phased rollout…” it helpfully clarified.
Hmmm. Given that rather major caveat, plus the current relatively small scale of the project, and the surely unsustainably low €1.99 a ride price point (about £1.70), describing it as a commercial robotaxi service is maybe over-egging the pudding slightly?
Robotaxi race
The current achievement, impressive as it is, seems roughly on a par with the trial CAVForth autonomous bus service in Scotland. That ran, remember, on a registered timetable with a safety driver back in 2023, winning our inaugural Self-Driving Industry Vehicle of the Year Award for Alexander Dennis and Fusion Processing.
Best of luck to all involved in Zagreb but, for us at Cars Of The Future, the on-board safety driver alone rather negates the lofty claim.
The European first prize, therefore, is still up for grabs, with Waymo and Wayve in London, and VW-owned MOIA in Hamburg, among the leading contenders.
