Stellantis partners with Bolt for 2026 driverless ride-hailing trials in Europe

Dec 9 (Reuters) - Carmaker ⁠Stellantis is ⁠teaming ‍up with Estonia-based ride-hailing platform Bolt to deploy driverless vehicles across ‍Europe, with plans to begin on-road trials ​in 2026, the companies said on Tuesday.

The collaboration ​will integrate Stellantis' purpose-built autonomous vehicle platforms with Bolt's ride-hailing network, which serves more than 200 million customers ​in over 50 countries, including 23 member states of the European Union.

Deployment will ​be phased from prototypes and pilot fleets to progressive industrial ‌scale-up, with an initial production target in 2029, the joint statement said.

The ​companies will work closely with European ⁠regulators to ensure the technology meets regional safety, cybersecurity and data ‌protection standards, they added.

Under the partnership, Stellantis will provide its "AV-Ready Platforms", specifically the eK0 medium-sized ‌van and its STLA Small platform, which are engineered ‌for Level 4 autonomous driving. This level of automation means the vehicle can operate without a human ‍driver under specific conditions.

The Franco-Italian-American carmaker had shelved its first Level ⁠3 advanced driver-assistance programme in August because of high costs, technological challenges and concerns about consumer appetite.

(Reporting by Romolo Tosiani in Gdansk, editing by Milla Nissi-Prussak)

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