Check Mate, Elon: Rimac Has A Fleet Of Actual Robotaxis Before Tesla

The CEO who is also in charge of the company that builds 16-cylinder, 300 mile-per-hour monsters is showing off his other company, and not the one that builds the Rimac Nevera, either. He wants to make sure you know what he means: Verne.

Rimac's Electric Dreams Don't All Have 2,000 HP
Verne was founded a few years back by Rimac along with Marko Pejković and Adriano Mudri. The trio wanted to expand beyond Rimac's electric performance beasts to create an autonomous vehicle and a service to run it. Like what GM tried in the US with Cruise, and what Waymo has continued to move forward on using Jaguar-based EVs.

The main element of the autonomous car project is, of course, the autonomous car. Compared with making a car that can safety drive itself, making an app is child's play. It's a project that Rimac has been working on in different forms for more than a decade, and he had originally planned 500 cars in 2015.

This time it's different. Verne has announced that it has finished the construction and testing of 60 validation prototype cars. Rimac's Instagram post about the project (above) shows him standing in a lot full of the cars, and gives us a tour of the Verne inside and out.

Strolling around a Croatian parking lot while holding a selfie stick isn't exactly the polish and hype-building we expect from this kind of announcement, but there's something reassuring about the presentation. He's trying to sell the steak, while others sell the sizzle. Here's an actual fleet of prototypes, not just modified versions of existing cars that may or may not turn into the wild driverless concepts other automakers have shown us.

The two-door Verne robotaxi is an almost hilariously small two-door car, but this is a bespoke EV made for taxi use, not an existing EV with some more software. It doesn't have a steering wheel and, since there is no need for back seats, it doesn't have to be very big. It does still have a comfortable-looking cabin and Rimac says it will have YouTube and other video streaming services onboard using its wall-to-wall screen.

Spend More Time Not Driving So You Can Spend More Time Driving
Rimac is clearly trying to soothe his fans who are more focused on driving and 2,000 horsepower supercars, but he raises the most valid point about these vehicles. Most driving time is spent stuck in city traffic. Why not use that time to get more done, and then you can have more time to spend on actual driving?

Verne plans to start its on-road self-driving testing in Zagreb before it expands. Rimac is passionate about bringing automotive and high-tech industry to his home country. The on-road launch is planned for spring 2026, though Verne and Rimac have not announced details, including exactly what level of service it will offer. The car Rimac showed did not have a steering wheel, which strongly suggests Level 5 autonomous driving.

The company has backing from Mate's own company, but it isn't the only investor. Verne notes that Kia is on board, along with the EU and Saudi investment firm Jameel. So far, the company has raised nearly 200 million euros to help get it to launch.