Swedish EV manufacturer NEVS and autonomous vehicle start-up AutoX have agreed an exclusive partnership to use AutoX's AD technology for NEVS' new vehicle architecture.
The target is deploying the first large scale robotaxi pilots in Europe by the end of 2020, demonstrating and evaluating technology and design of a claimed "revolutionary world first new vehicle type that will shape mobility for a more sustainable future".
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The vehicle is currently being developed by NEVS in Trollhattan, Sweden, inspired by the InMotion concept that was shown at CES Asia in 2017.
"AutoX enables companies to become autonomous by creating an AI driver which is tailored to the specific geolocation it is in; adopting local driving styles, while also navigating in urban and dynamic conditions," said CEO Jianxiong Xiao.
"We were impressed by the performance and maturity of AutoX's AD stack and also saw a perfect partner in terms of approaching the market and shared corporate values," said NEVS CEO Stefan Tilk.
AutoX was the second company to be permitted by the California Public Utilities Commission to operate a robotaxi pilot programme and launch the xTaxi immediately after.
The partnership will intensify collaboration between the two companies, as testing will start in the third quarter of 2019.
About a year later, the collaboration intends to deploy on public roads in Europe in conjunction with the pilot launch of NEVS' driverless vehicle platform.
The partnership's ultimate goal is to deploy a large fleet of robotaxis worldwide.
