Lucid Motors has a potential robotaxi partner for Europe

Lucid Motors has entered into a concern with European mobility level Bolt that could bring robotaxis made by the California institution to the continent.

The 2 companies announced Thursday that Bolt “aims to deploy astatine slightest 25,000 afloat autonomous vehicles” built connected Lucid’s upcoming mid-size EV architecture, which is expected to beryllium smaller and cheaper than its existent offerings.

The announcement follows a large restructuring astatine Lucid Motors nether its caller CEO, Silvio Napoli, who recently laid off astir 20% of the company’s workforce and delayed the motorboat of the archetypal conveyance to beryllium built connected the mid-size level by astir a twelvemonth to the 2nd fractional of 2027.

Lucid Motors has yet to deploy a commercialized robotaxi mentation of either of its 2 existing vehicles. The institution has spent the past twelvemonth moving in concern with Uber and autonomous conveyance steadfast Nuro to motorboat a robotaxi mentation of its Gravity SUV. That is expected to hap by the extremity of 2026.

Napoli has said helium believes the concern of becoming a robotaxi supplier would person margins that “vastly” transcend those of “the accepted retail model.”

Bolt intends to ain and run the fleet, according to a property release. The 2 companies “will enactment unneurotic from the product-development signifier connected an autonomous driving strategy (ADS)-ready conveyance platform,” it says.

The vehicles volition usage Nvidia’s autonomous conveyance compute and sensing architecture (called Hyperion), but the companies did not accidental which institution (or companies) volition supply the autonomous driving software. Lucid declined to connection immoderate much accusation beyond what was successful the property release.

No wealth has changed hands, and Bolt has not placed an bid for the vehicles. There is besides nary nationalist timeline for deployment — lone that Bolt considers this a “major measurement toward” its “ambition of 100,000 autonomous vehicles connected its level by 2035.”

“Autonomous driving in Europe requires data, software, vehicles, and operations to enactment arsenic 1 strategy built for European roads and regulation,” Markus Villig, laminitis and CEO of Bolt, said successful a statement. “Lucid brings a world-class platform, and together, we volition co-design the conveyance and bundle based connected our information and much than a decennary of operating acquisition crossed much than 850 cities. No 1 is amended placed to run autonomous mobility services efficiently astatine scale.”

Napoli, successful a statement, said, “Bolt’s scope and operating expertise marque it an perfect spouse to standard autonomous mobility across Europe.”
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