Swedish EV manufacturer NEVS and the Autonomous Vehicle start-up AutoX have entered into an exclusive strategic partnership to integrate AutoX ́s Autonomous Drive technology in NEVS’ next-generation vehicle architecture.
The partnership is directed towards a target of deploying the first large scale RoboTaxi pilots in Europe by the end of 2020, demonstrating and evaluating technology and design of a revolutionary world-first new vehicle type that will shape mobility for a more sustainable future.
The vehicle is currently being developed by NEVS in Trollhättan, Sweden, inspired by the “InMotion” concept that was shown at the CES Asia, in 2017.
“AutoX enables companies like NEVS to become autonomous by creating an A.I. driver which is tailored to the specific geolocation it is in; adopting local driving styles, while also navigating in urban and dynamic conditions. We are proud to start deploying our technology together with a global OEM that really takes the mobility revolution seriously”, says Jianxiong Xiao (a.k.a. Professor X), founder and CEO of AutoX.
He refers to the vehicle design that not only provides zero emissions, but also promotes an enormous increase in utilization rates (24/7 mobility services), hence reducing the number of vehicles in the street for a given mobility need. The holistic sustainability approach, addressing air pollution, climate change, congestion and also improved accessibility for the global population is what characterizes NEVS vision”, Jianxiong Xiao adds.
“Already at our first meeting in Silicon Valley, we were not only impressed by the performance and maturity of AutoX’s AD stack, but also saw a perfect partner in terms of approaching the market and shared corporate values”, says Stefan Tilk, CEO of NEVS.
“AutoX’s vision to empower the world with AI drivers enabling universal access to transportation of people and goods, safely and efficiently, makes them go truly hand in hand with our view on the future we want to create”, he adds.
For AutoX, the partnership follows an important milestone of becoming the second company in the world to be permitted by the California Public Utilities Commission to operate a RoboTaxi pilot program and launching their service xTaxi immediately thereafter.
The partnership will immediately intensify the collaboration between the two companies, as rigorous testing of the technology integrated in NEVS vehicles will start already in the third quarter of 2019. Slightly more than a year later, the collaboration intends to hit public roads in Europe, in conjunction with a pilot launch of NEVS’ upcoming driverless vehicle platform. The partnership’s ultimate goal is to deploy a large fleet of robotaxi’s across the globe.
