Europe gets its first driverless robotaxi rides in Zagreb

Pony.ai ↗ 0.30% and Verne on Thursday launched fully driverless robotaxi test rides with passengers on public roads in Zagreb, Croatia — the first time a European robotaxi program has operated without a human safety operator in the vehicle.eletric-vehicles+1

Invited passengers can ride a 22-kilometer route linking Verne's headquarters and one of Zagreb's main business districts with Franjo Tuđman Airport. The companies said they plan to expand fully driverless routes over the coming months to cover Verne's entire operating area in the Croatian capital.stocktitan

From Supervised to Driverless

The milestone builds on a commercial robotaxi service Verne launched in Zagreb on April 8, with rides bookable through both the Verne app and, since August 19, through Uber ↗ 2.27%. Those commercial trips still require a licensed safety operator behind the wheel. Thursday's announcement is a separate, parallel program: test rides with no human driver onboard, restricted to invited passengers.eletric-vehicles

Since the April launch, the Zagreb fleet has logged more than 200,000 kilometers, completed several thousand customer rides, and earned an average passenger rating of 4.7 out of 5, according to the companies.theaiinsider+1

"Five months ago, we launched Europe's first commercial Robotaxi service. We are now taking the next step, moving from autonomous driving with an onboard AV operator toward fully driverless operations," said Verne CEO Marko Pejković.stocktitan

Technology and Track Record

The test rides use Pony.ai's seventh-generation robotaxi, equipped with a Level 4 domain controller built on Nvidia ↘ 2.27% DRIVE AGX and running the safety-certified DriveOS operating system. The vehicle, based on the Arcfox Alpha T5 electric SUV produced by BAIC, features 360-degree sensor coverage with redundant, fail-operational systems.theaiinsider+1

Pony.ai pointed to its Chinese operations as validation. The company runs fully driverless commercial services in four major Chinese cities and has accumulated more than 100 million autonomous kilometers worldwide, including over 40 million in fully driverless mode.stocktitan

European Expansion Race

Zagreb is part of a broader push. Pony.ai expanded its collaboration with Uber in August to deploy more than 2,000 robotaxis across five European cities, and its total overseas deployment pipeline now exceeds 4,000 vehicles. The company is targeting a global fleet of more than 3,500 robotaxis by the end of 2026 across more than 20 cities.eletric-vehicles+1

The European robotaxi landscape is growing crowded. Wayve and Uber began supervised autonomous rides in London on September 3, WeRide secured Spain's first Level 4 autonomous vehicle permit for Madrid, and Waymo has announced plans for Munich by late 2027. None of those programs, however, have reached the stage of removing the human operator from the vehicle — the step Zagreb took on Thursday.autonews.gasgoo+1