Robotaxi Rimac Verne: Autonomous early starter
The Rimac Verne will be driving as an autonomous cab in Zagreb from 2026, with Mobileye and Porsche as key partners. A later sale to end customers is possible.
(Image: Verne)
- Christoph M. Schwarzer
Rimac instead of Musk: six weeks before Tesla, the Verne robotaxi shows what autonomous driving can look like. With two seats, a trunk, but without a steering wheel or pedals. There is only the median, a switch between the passengers that can be used to stop or start the vehicle. Mate Rimac, the wunderkind of the electric car scene, is the co-founder of the company, in which Marko Pejkovic is the CEO and Adriano Mudri is the designer. Mudri had already designed the Nevera super sports car. From 2026, many Vernes will be on the road in Zagreb. Initially, as autonomous robotaxis for anyone who wants to be mobile in the Croatian capital. And of course, it is not impossible that the skills and experience gained with the Verne will be transferred into a product for commercial and private customers.
It goes without saying that the Verne is electric. The design language, on the other hand, is restrained: no Mad Max style like the Tesla Cybertruck. Rather more staid and with practical sliding doors. This makes it easier to get into tight parking spaces, for example, or - as is usual with cabs – at the side of the road. The focus is on comfort and safety. They should feel at ease: A 43 inch display provides entertainment. A round roof called Halo allows the sun to shine in if desired.
Cameras, radar and lidar as a counter-design to Tesla Vision
Elon Musk will take a close look at the work of Mate Rimac's team. It is clear that Tesla needs to show a more offensive design for the Robotaxi. The basic concept is very similar: two people, one trunk, no steering wheel or pedals. Franz von Holtzhausen, head of design at Tesla, had already shown an experimental seat box, seemingly by chance. Furthermore, it is plausible that Tesla, as known from FSD 12.x (Full Self Driving), uses exclusively camera-based control.
In the Rimac Verne, the sensor system is structured differently: In addition to several cameras, radar and lidar are used. Although this hardware is integrated inconspicuously in the Verne, it is by no means invisible. A side effect of the autonomous robotaxi is that not only the rear-view mirrors are no longer needed, but also the windshield wipers.
Mobileye with Intel as supplier
The hardware and software system does not come from Rimac itself, but from the most important company in camera recognition and sensor technology: Mobileye. More than 170 million vehicles worldwide are equipped with systems from Mobileye. The Israeli company was acquired by Intel in 2022 and is involved in a number of collaborations.
When the Rimac Verne starts driving as a robot cab in Zagreb in 2026, it will also need to be charged and cleaned. This will take place in so-called motherships, which are nothing more than maintenance centers.
Loser public bus
Verne announces that Zagreb will be followed by other cities, initially in Germany and the UK. Eleven contracts have been signed. This fits in well with news from Hamburg: the Free and Hanseatic City wants to have at least 10,000 autonomous cabs on the streets by 2030. Volkswagen is currently experimenting with autonomous versions of the MOIA shared cab, but without passengers in Hamburg. The Rimac Verne would be a sensible and more luxurious addition. The losers of this progress would be the uneconomical public buses, which are inflexible in their routes, overcrowded at rush hour and otherwise underutilized.
Urban traffic is the most challenging terrain for autonomous vehicles such as the Rimac Verne. In contrast to the freeway, urban centers have cyclists and people ranging from children to tourists to drunks, there are traffic lights, many lanes and chaotic everyday situations. If Verne's system proves perfect functionality here, it can do it everywhere.
Later for commercial and private customers
The Rimac Verne is a sober alternative to Tesla's robotaxi: no boohoo, no Musk show, just a driving capsule with a concrete timetable for rollout. The key question is whether Rimac or an associated car company such as Volkswagen (Porsche has a stake in Rimac) will dare to take the step from owning a robotaxi to actually selling it.
When autonomous cabs are driving in Zagreb, errors can be easily identified and inconspicuously rectified. The situation would be very different once they are sold or leased to commercial or private customers. It is very likely that the test fleet is merely a preparation for later use for precisely this purpose. If we succeed in making an autonomous vehicle available to normal commercial and private customers, it would be nothing less than a revolution in road traffic.
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(anw)