Estonia’s Bolt to launch a self-driving car testing programme in Luxembourg

The Estonian-founded transportation technology startup, Bolt, together with other companies, is launching an autonomous mobility pilot programme in Luxembourg.

In addition to Bolt, the participants of the programme include Pony.ai, a China-based mobility platform, and Stellantis, one of the world’s largest car manufacturers.

The programme will focus on validating the safety, performance and regulatory readiness of Pony.ai’s autonomous vehicles in the Luxembourg traffic environment, supported by the country’s approach to autonomous mobility testing.

Stellantis will contribute its vehicle engineering and manufacturing expertise with a midsize van, the companies said in a statement.

“The pilot is designed to test the technologies and operational processes required to support safe autonomous mobility in cities, from vehicle deployment and ride-hailing platform integration to fleet operations and regulatory coordination,” the companies added.

Scaling self-driving vehicles across Europe

This is Bolt’s first autonomous mobility pilot, and represents the next step in the company’s aim to scale autonomous mobility services across European cities with various technology partners.

Bolt is an Estonian-founded shared mobility platform, started in 2013. It has operations in over 50 countries and 600 cities globally and provides shared mobility services, including ride-hailing, scooter and e-bike rental and car rental to over 200 million customers.

Stellantis is a global car manufacturer whose brands include Alfa Romeo, Fiat, Peugeot, Jeep and Maserati.

Pony.ai is an autonomous vehicle technology company co-located in Silicon Valley, the US; and in Beijing and Guangzhou, China. Its headquarters is in Guangzhou. It was founded in 2016.