Image credit: Lucid Motors
European shared mobility platform Bolt has agreed to deploy at least 25,000 autonomous vehicles across Europe with US electric carmaker Lucid as it accelerates its push into driverless transport.
The companies will co-develop a vehicle platform designed for Level 4 autonomy, which allows a vehicle to drive without human intervention within defined operating conditions. The vehicles will be based on Lucid’s upcoming Midsize platform and are expected to use Nvidia’s Hyperion autonomous vehicle architecture.
Bolt will define the vehicle, software, safety and rider-experience requirements for the vehicles and build the infrastructure needed to operate them. It intends to own and operate the fleet itself.
“Autonomous driving in Europe requires data, software, vehicles and operations to work as one system built for European roads and regulation,” said Bolt Founder and Chief Executive Markus Villig.
For Bolt, the Lucid agreement is the largest commitment yet in a broader European autonomy strategy. The company said it wants 100,000 autonomous vehicles on its platform by 2035.
Bolt has spent the past years assembling the components of that strategy. Last December, it partnered with Stellantis to work towards deploying Level 4 vehicles across Europe with trials planned from this year. In June 2026, it announced a three-way partnership with Chinese autonomous driving company Pony.ai and Stellantis to launch a “Living Lab” testing programme using a midsize van equipped with Pony.ai’s latest driverless technology in Luxembourg.
Bolt also announced a partnership with Nvidia earlier this year to use its Drive Hyperion platform as part of the company’s autonomous vehicle strategy.
The company’s dedicated Bolt Autonomous Driving Solutions unit will lead the Lucid programme. It will work from vehicle development through to commercial operation including building fleet infrastructure, operating systems and partnerships with cities.
The scale of the ambition comes as autonomous ride-hailing begins to move into public operations in parts of Europe. Zagreb became the first European city to offer fully autonomous rides to the general public in August through a programme involving Pony.ai and Croatian developer Verne.
For Lucid, the deal is its second major autonomous fleet partnership. The California-based electric vehicle maker has a separate agreement with Uber covering at least 35,000 vehicles for autonomous ride-hailing in the US. That programme uses Nuro’s autonomous driving system and includes Lucid’s Gravity SUV and upcoming Midsize models.
Bolt currently operates shared mobility services in more than 850 cities across 50 countries. It cites more than 200 million customers use its platform, giving it a large existing network through which to introduce autonomous services once the vehicles and regulatory approvals are in place.
