Bolt, Stellantis and Pony.ai Begin Autonomous Vehicle Trial in Luxembourg
Bolt has partnered with Stellantis and Pony.ai to launch its first autonomous mobility testing program in Luxembourg. As a result, the ride-hailing platform is officially entering the self-driving vehicle sector in Europe.
The pilot will assess the safety, performance, and regulatory readiness of Pony.ai’s seventh-generation autonomous vehicles under real-world traffic conditions in Luxembourg. Meanwhile, Stellantis will provide a mid-size van built on its L4-Ready platform. By the end of the trial, the three companies aim to achieve full driverless operational readiness.
Europe Accelerates Self-Driving Vehicle Testing
The announcement comes as European governments increase support for autonomous transportation. On Monday, 17 transport ministers joined EU Commissioner for Sustainable Transport and Tourism Apostolos Tzitzikostas in signing a declaration that supports large-scale cross-border testing of self-driving vehicles.
The initiative seeks to establish a unified testing framework across participating countries. Consequently, it could replace the fragmented national pilot programs currently operating throughout Europe. The effort also highlights Europe’s determination to narrow the gap with the United States and China, where autonomous taxi services already operate at scale.
At the same time, autonomous mobility activity continues to expand across the continent. Uber and British startup Wayve recently opened a public waiting list for autonomous taxi rides in London. Meanwhile, Zagreb has emerged as one of Europe’s early commercial robotaxi markets following a pilot launched earlier this year.
Long-Term Expansion Plans
The Luxembourg program builds on several strategic partnerships Bolt has developed to strengthen its position in autonomous mobility. In late 2025, the company announced separate collaborations with Pony.ai and Stellantis. Later, in March 2026, it partnered with NVIDIA to develop AI systems designed to support autonomous vehicle deployment across European roads.
Furthermore, Bolt has set a long-term goal of offering approximately 100,000 autonomous vehicles on its platform by 2035. Vehicles supplied by Stellantis are expected to play a significant role in reaching that target.
Following the Luxembourg trial, the partners plan to expand the initiative across multiple European cities. If the pilot progresses as expected, large-scale industrial deployment could begin from 2029 onward.
