The company Verne, founded by Mate Rimac, has sent a fleet of autonomous vehicles onto the roads of the Croatian capital, with a ride costing just EUR 1,99 in the initial phase.
Croatia has become the first EU country to have a commercial fleet of autonomous taxis, operated by startup Verne. The service operates in the 91 square kilometer area of Zagreb, which also includes Franjo Tuđman International Airport, and the attractive introductory fare is just EUR 1,99. The app is currently used by 300 verified passengers, with thousands more waiting to be approved. In the future, integration with the Uber platform is also planned, which will significantly increase daily demand and facilitate access to autonomous transportation.
The fleet currently consists of ten electric SUVs based on the Chinese BAIC Arcfox Alpha T5. The complex autonomous maneuvers are handled by a technological system from the Chinese company Pony.ai. Although the system navigates traffic, overtakes and reacts to unpredictable obstacles completely independently, a driver is still present at this stage due to compliance with local legislation. Verne expects to completely eliminate human control in vehicles by the end of this year.
The startup's ambitions extend far beyond Croatia, with talks currently underway to expand to 11 cities across Europe, the UK and the Middle East, with an additional 30 global locations under evaluation. Ultimately, Verne will replace the existing Chinese test vehicles with its own purpose-built autonomous vehicle. It is an innovative two-seater capsule that will be fully optimised and tailored to the specific needs of autonomous urban mobility of the future.
