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 new vehicle type that will shape mobility for a more sustainable future.

Robotaxi vehicle concept

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.

—Jianxiong Xiao, founder and CEO of AutoX

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. 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.

—Stefan Tilk, CEO of NEVS

For AutoX, the partnership follows an important milestone of becoming the second company to be permitted by the California Public Utilities Commission to operate a RoboTaxi pilot program and launching their service xTaxi immediately thereafter (in the 95054 and 95134 areas of north San Jose/Santa Clara).

The partnership will immediately intensify the collaboration between the two companies, as rigorous testing of the technology integrated in NEVS vehicles will start 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.

AutoX was founded in 2016 by Jianxiong Xiao (a.k.a. Professor X); the team consists of top scientists from MIT, CMU, Stanford, UC Berkeley, Harvard, as well as a team of experienced engineers.