A new robotaxi service is coming to Croatia, courtesy of the country’s leading supercar maker Rimac. The service will be called “Verne,” after French writer and poet Jules Verne, and is scheduled to launch in Zagreb in 2026, the company said.
This is an interesting turn of events for a company that has been on a steep trajectory in recent years. Founded by Mate Rimac in a garage as a one-man operation, Rimac has since grown into a highly sought-after brand, with many established automakers turning to the startup to build their own electric supercars. In addition to producing the record-breaking Nevera hypercar, Rimac also surprisingly acquired control of Bugatti from Volkswagen in 2021 and formed a new company called Bugatti Rimac.
And now the company behind the 410 km/h electric hypercar is preparing to launch its own robotaxi. I assure you, this is less coincidental than it seems at first glance. Rimac has been working on autonomous technology since 2017, and in 2021 it received €200 million from the EU to develop robotaxis as part of a €6.3 billion economic stimulus package for Croatia. (The incentive package exposed the company to a lot of criticism, including a member of the Croatian parliament who called Mate Rimac a fraudster and “the Balkan Elizabeth Holmes.”) The company has also received funding from Hyundai and Kia.
Today, Rimac wants to prove that the money is not wasted. Previously called Project 3 Mobility and now renamed Verne, the company is led by Rimac’s friend Marko Pejković as CEO and Adriano Mudri, the designer of Nevera, as chief designer. The company said it decided to hire the author of classics such as Twenty thousand leagues under the sea And Journey to the Center of the Earth because “he used the theme of travel as the driving force of his storytelling.”
The robotaxi will be fully electric and based on autonomous technology from Mobileye, the Intel-owned company that supplies many automakers with autonomous and advanced driver assistance technology. Verne will use Mobileye Drive, a self-driving system that leverages the Israeli company’s EyeQ system-on-a-chip, as well as a data crowdsourcing program called Road Experience Management, or REM, that uses real-time data from Mobileye-equipped vehicles to create a global 3D map.
The vehicle is fully autonomous at Level 4, meaning it does not have traditional controls such as a steering wheel and pedals. Other familiar controls such as windshield wipers and side mirrors have also disappeared to reduce drag and improve aerodynamics.
Verne’s first vehicle looks radically different than most self-driving cars on the road today. Rather than a converted minivan or a toaster-shaped shuttle with protruding sensors, the Verne robotaxi is sleeker and much smaller, looking overall like a two-door hatchback. The sprawling greenhouse and sloped windshield enclose an interior that’s more luxurious than your average robotaxi. And the vehicle’s two sliding doors are certainly eye-catching. Rimac says they’re designed for easy entry.
The decision to go with a two-seater may seem odd to some, considering that many robotaxi operators use higher capacity vehicles. After all, more seats mean more passengers and therefore more revenue. But Verne’s chief designer Mudri cites data that shows: “9 out of 10 trips are used by 1 or 2 people. Therefore, we can handle most trips with a two-seater and create unmatched interior space in a compact vehicle.”
Reducing the number of seats will provide more space and more luxury, says Verne. But the company’s robotaxis will not only be affordable for the super-rich. In a statement, Mate Rimac promised that Verne’s autonomous ride-hailing service will be “affordable for everyone.”
Since there’s no steering wheel or other clunky controls, Rimac was able to go big with the interior screen. The 43-inch display stretches almost the entire width of the dashboard and includes widgets for media, cabin controls and weather. The central widget is dedicated to navigation, with a design reminiscent of Tesla or Waymo, with an illuminated line emanating from the virtual vehicle, helping the driver keep track of the journey.
According to Verne, passengers can listen to their own music or watch movies on the widescreen display. There are 17 speakers distributed throughout the vehicle, including a Dolby Atmos sound system.
The robotaxi can be ordered through a mobile app, similar to Uber or Waymo. Through the app, customers can adjust certain settings such as temperature, lighting and even scent before their vehicle even shows up. On the backend side, all vehicles are connected to each other, allowing Verne to streamline fleet management tasks.
Verne wants to build centrally located vehicle depots, so-called “motherships”, in the cities in which the company operates. The robot taxis will be cleaned, charged and maintained there. The vehicles themselves will be manufactured in a factory yet to be built in Croatia.
After Zagreb, Verne plans to launch its robotaxi service in other European cities – first in the UK and Germany and later in the Middle East. Although some companies are already testing autonomous vehicles in Europe, it seems that a commercial service is still a long way off. Alphabet’s Waymo is now in operation in several major US cities and Baidu operates hundreds of self-driving cars in China.
Verne is working to become the first major robotaxi operator outside of those two countries. The company has already signed contracts with 11 cities in the EU, UK and the Middle East and is negotiating with more than 30 cities worldwide, it says. And it aims to “complement public transport, not compete with it.”
“In the longer term, Verne is intended to help eliminate the need for a second or third car in the household, which takes up parking spaces, is rarely used and causes considerable costs,” the company said in a statement.