EVwire brief: Bolt, the ride-hailing giant out of Europe, just announced they have partnered up with Pony AI to launch robotaxis on European streets. The first deployments start in 2026, and full service launch expected within a year of that. We have been waiting for Bolt’s first move into robotaxi space for a while now.
Markus Villig recognizes how Europe is falling behind in AV race, as he said to Sifted:
“Self-driving or physical AI in the real world is going to be as revolutionary as AI in the digital world. But the EU is paying zero attention to that at the moment. And it's a massive risk.
About 10% of the EU's economy is involved in making cars. And if we miss this wave, we're not going to have our own self-driving car capabilities in Europe. It's going to be a disaster."
The partnership will initially focus on real-world testing, safety validation, and experience design to provide fully autonomous, driverless capability.
It will target cities for deployments in EU countries and in non-EU European countries.
Pony AI is not new to the robotaxi game - it has deployed 720 robotaxis so far, logged 55 million kilometres of on-road testing for its L4 domain controller, and is the only autonomous taxi service operating commercially in Beijing, Guangzhou, Shanghai, and Shenzhen.
“Of course, as a European, I would like it [the AV partner] to come from Europe.
That would be fantastic for us.
But if it comes from China or the US, we're equally happy to work with them. Anybody who wants to deploy their cars into Europe would benefit from our network and our customers.”
“Of course, as a European, I would like it [the AV partner] to come from Europe,” Villig says. That would be fantastic for us. But if it comes from China or the US, we're equally happy to work with them. Anybody who wants to deploy their cars into Europe would benefit from our network and our customers.”
Now, the Bolt x Pony AI robotaxis will join the race in Europe that has notable AV ride-hailing services planned for 2026 like:
Uber x Wayve in London;
Baidu's Apollo Go x Lyft in UK + Germany;
Uber x Momenta in München;
Verne’s robotaxi launch in Zagreb
... and much more.
2026 is shaping up to be an exciting year for robotaxis globally.
We at EVwire will be watching closely.
Sources: Markus Villig; Sifted
