Sept 17 (Reuters) - US EV maker Lucid Group and European shared mobility platform Bolt said on Thursday they are teaming up to roll out self-driving ride services across Europe, as they seek to tap into the region's emerging robotaxi market.
The partnership reflects how robotaxi development is shifting from pilot programs to commercial deployment, especially in Europe, with competition intensifying as companies race to scale. Uber, Verne and Pony.ai launched robotaxi rides in Zagreb in August, while
Alphabet-owned Waymo is testing autonomous vehicles in Munich ahead of a planned launch in Germany in late 2027.
Bolt plans to deploy 25,000 fully autonomous Lucid vehicles in major European cities as part of a broader push to grow its autonomous fleet to 100,000 vehicles by 2035.
The vehicles will be based on Lucid's upcoming Midsize platform and are expected to use Nvidia's Hyperion autonomous-vehicle architecture.
Lucid and Bolt will co-develop an autonomous-driving-system-ready vehicle platform designed for SAE Level 4 automation, meaning the vehicles can operate with no intervention within defined operating conditions and areas.
Bolt's autonomous-driving unit will help set vehicle, software, safety and rider-experience requirements, while also building the fleet infrastructure, operating systems and city partnerships needed for a broader rollout. Bolt intends to own and operate the fleet.
The companies said they would also work with autonomous-driving technology partners, European regulators and policymakers to support the rollout.
Lucid has a separate US robotaxi partnership with Uber and autonomous-driving firm Nuro, under which Uber committed to deploy at least 35,000 Lucid vehicles, including the Gravity SUV and models from its upcoming Midsize platform, starting this year.
(Reporting by Anzar Mehraj and Akash Sriram in Bengaluru; Editing by Diti Pujara)
