Gasgoo Munich- Pony.ai and autonomous mobility service provider Verne announced on September 10 that they had begun fully driverless Robotaxi passenger trials on public roads in Zagreb, Croatia. The companies described the program as the first of its kind in Europe and a significant step in Pony.ai's plans for fully driverless commercial operations outside China.Image source: Pony.aiThe initial 22-km route connects Verne's headquarters with Franjo Tuđman Airport in one of Zagreb's main business districts. The companies plan to expand the driverless operating routes over the coming months, with the eventual goal of covering Verne's entire service area in Zagreb.The driverless trials began just over five months after Pony.ai, Verne and Uber announced a three-way partnership to launch what they called Europe's first commercial Robotaxi service.Under the jointly operated fleet model, Pony.ai supplies the full-stack autonomous-driving technology, Verne manages local operations and Uber provides customer access through its mobility platform. Since beginning service in early April, the fleet has covered more than 200,000 km and completed thousands of passenger trips, receiving an average customer rating of 4.7 out of five.Moving from commercial service with onboard safety operators to passenger trials without a human operator represents a new stage for Pony.ai and Verne. The companies said the transition demonstrates that Pony.ai's technology and operating experience from fully driverless services in China can be adapted for Europe, supported by Verne's local operating and regulatory-compliance capabilities.The test fleet uses Pony.ai's seventh-generation Robotaxi. Each vehicle is equipped with the company's internally developed Level 4 domain controller based on the NVIDIA DRIVE AGX platform and runs the safety-certified NVIDIA DriveOS operating system.The vehicle architecture combines 360-degree sensor coverage, multiple layers of redundancy and fail-operational capability. Pony.ai currently operates fully driverless commercial services in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen. The company has accumulated more than 100 million km of autonomous-driving road mileage worldwide, including over 40 million km without a safety operator.The Zagreb passenger trials are being conducted in accordance with Croatian regulations. Pony.ai and Verne said they had obtained all approvals required to test autonomous vehicles carrying passengers on public roads.The program advances Pony.ai's strategy of scaling its Robotaxi business in China and international markets in parallel. Outside China, the company is using jointly operated fleets that integrate autonomous-driving technology, customer access and day-to-day fleet management.Pony.ai said the combination of partners can be adjusted for individual markets, allowing the operating model to accommodate local requirements while supporting more capital-efficient expansion.Recent partnerships have expanded Pony.ai's planned international deployments to more than 4,000 Robotaxis, including an agreement with Uber covering over 2,000 vehicles in Europe. Pony.ai aims to operate a global fleet of more than 3,500 Robotaxis across over 20 cities by the end of 2026.