Pony.ai and Uber plan to expand their robotaxi operations in Europe, targeting a fleet of more than 2,000 autonomous vehicles. The partners aim to launch services in four additional European cities alongside Zagreb.
The partners now plan to expand the service significantly. They aim to deploy more than 2,000 robotaxis across four additional European cities, in addition to Zagreb, although they have not yet disclosed the locations or when the fleet will reach that size. Pony.ai and Uber also plan joint operations in the Middle East.
Pony.ai provides its SAE Level 4-certified autonomous driving system and experience from existing robotaxi fleets, while Uber handles bookings, payments and customer service through its platform. At Level 4, vehicles can operate fully autonomously within a defined operating area without human intervention.
Local partners
To scale the service, Pony.ai and Uber will use a joint deployment model involving local partners. Depending on the market, these partners can handle financing, vehicle ownership, and day-to-day fleet operations.
In Zagreb, for example, Verne owns and operates the fleet, while Pony.ai supplies the autonomous driving technology and Uber connects the service with customers through its platform.
Several projects in Europe
With Uber, Pony.ai now plans to expand its operations in Europe significantly. A fleet of more than 2,000 robotaxis would take the partnership well beyond individual pilot projects.
For now, however, this remains a target: the partners have yet to name the four additional cities or provide a rollout timeline. The expansion will also depend on regulatory approval in each market.
“This expanded agreement marks an important new phase in the partnership between Pony.ai and Uber. It reflects our shared commitment to bringing safe, reliable Robotaxi services to more European cities,” said Dr. James Peng, Founder and CEO of Pony.ai.
“By combining Pony.ai’s proven autonomous driving technology and operational know-how with Uber’s global mobility platform and extensive market reach, we aim to build sustained commercial operations at scale across Europe and beyond,” he added.
“The next chapter for autonomous mobility is about moving from individual launches to repeatable commercial scale,” responded Sarfraz Maredia, Global Head of Autonomous Mobility & Delivery at Uber.
“Together with Pony.ai, we’re combining advanced autonomous technology with Uber’s hybrid platform, on-the-ground experience, and operational excellence to build a model that can quickly and reliably expand across cities, he concluded.
