Croatian startup readies self-driving taxi Verne for Zagreb launch

ZAGREB (Reuters) - Autonomous vehicle startup Project 3 Mobility (P3), set up by the founder of Croatian electric vehicle maker Rimac Group, presented on Wednesday its self-driving robotaxi named after French writer Jules Verne ahead of a planned launch in 2026.

The startup expects that its fully autonomous two-seat electric vehicle Verne will be able to run urban robotaxi services, complete with an app for consumers and a hub for charging, cleaning and maintenance, starting first in Zagreb.

"What we are trying to do is to deliver a luxury car experience in the space of a compact car," Mate Rimac, CEO of the Rimac Group, which is part-owned by Porsche AG, said during the presentation.

"It's the size of a smaller vehicle, but has higher safety and higher comfort than a luxury car."

Rimac said P3's 300 employees have been working for five years to develop the car from scratch, using self-driving software from Israel-based Mobileye Global.

Zagreb and 10 other cities around the world have already signed contracts for Verne taxis, named after the writer of Around the World in Eighty Days. Talks with 20 more cities are underway, said P3 CEO Marko Pejkovic.

The factory producing the vehicles will be built on the outskirts of Zagreb, the capital's Mayor Tomislav Tomasevic said.

Last February P3 closed its Series A funding round raising around 100 million euros ($106.8 million) from private investors including TASARU Mobility Investments, a unit of Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF), South Korean automaker Kia, and Rimac Group.

It has also won 180 million euros in grants from the European Union for the project.

($1 = 0.9360 euros)

(Reporting by Antonio Bronic and Daria Sito-Sucic; Editing by Jan Harvey)