Estonian ride-hailing company Bolt plans to deploy at least 25,000 fully autonomous vehicles across Europe with US electric carmaker Lucid, part of a goal to reach 100,000 robotaxis by 2035. No timeline or investment figure was disclosed, and Bolt's chief executive framed the deal as a push to build self-driving technology inside the EU rather than rely on the US and China.

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Europe's scattered robotaxi market gained its most ambitious target on Thursday when the Estonian ride-hailing company Bolt said it would put at least 25,000 fully autonomous vehicles on the continent's roads in partnership with the US electric carmaker Lucid. The companies withheld both a timeline and the size of the investment, however, the target set behind it is unusually large for the region as it has trailed the United States and China in self-driving deployment.

The agreement states a broader plan at Bolt to host 100,000 autonomous vehicles on its platform by 2035. Under the partnership, Bolt will own and operate the fleet, and the two companies expect to run the vehicles on Nvidia's Hyperion system. The cars themselves are set to roll off Lucid's new plant in Saudi Arabia, which is scheduled to begin operating early next year.

Building for European rules

What sets the announcement apart from a routine fleet order is the strategic case its architect makes for it. Markus Villig, Bolt's Founder and Chief Executive, cast Europe's autonomy effort as a matter of self-reliance, warning that leaning on imported technology from rival markets would leave the region exposed over the long run.

“Long term, we need to build this technology within the EU for EU requirements under the local standards,” Villig said. “There just isn't anybody we can partner with in that regard.”

Villig sees the eventual market stretching into the millions of vehicles and he singled out Europe's safety regulation, which are stricter than the rules in the United States and China, as the main force slowing it down. Europe “absolutely has the potential” to develop the necessary technology, he added.

“We think over time there's going to be room for millions of robotaxis around Europe,” Villig told Reuters, describing the tougher safety regime as the primary obstacle to getting there.

The Race Europe is Trying to Narrow

While Europe remains cautious, China has moved aggressively to scale driverless cars, even setting a national deadline for the technology, part of a wider contest over who defines the global standard for autonomy. American operators have pressed ahead as well, and Lucid already runs a separate US robotaxi arrangement of its own. However, measured against that, a 25,000-vehicle commitment in Europe reads as an attempt to narrow the distance without surrendering control of the technology underneath. Dependent on a vehicle platform Lucid has yet to launch on self-driving software that neither company builds on its own.

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