May Mobility plans to put more than 10,000 self-driving Volkswagen ID. Buzz vans into robotaxi service around the world by the end of 2031. Volkswagen will adapt the electric van, which will then carry May Mobility's autonomous driving system, in the form of an Autonomous Driving Kit from ECARX, a Chinese technology group based in London.

Tests on public roads in the US are due to start in early 2027, and the first production-ready vehicles are to be delivered in 2028. The German company Charlton Intelligence.ai will help deliver and deploy them, and May Mobility aims to cut the total cost per vehicle by more than half.

May Mobility does not own or run fleets itself but supplies its driving technology to fleet operators and mobility platforms. Its commercial work includes a service with Lyft in Atlanta, and it has made more than 600,000 driverless trips in the US and Japan, a total of 1.1 million miles.

Edwin Olson, May Mobility's founder and chief executive, said the ID. Buzz gives the company a vehicle platform well suited to scaling autonomous ride-hailing.

Source: electrive.com

Background

May Mobility

Autonomous shuttle company

Volkswagen

Automotive group

Volkswagen is the German parent company of Seat.

ID. Buzz

Electric van

Volkswagen's electric van, which May Mobility plans to use as a robotaxi.