Stellantis and Pony.ai have signed a non-binding Memorandum of Understanding to jointly test Level 4 autonomous vehicles (which require no intervention or attention from the driver in specific scenarios), aiming to accelerate the development of autonomous mobility in Europe. Although the collaboration lays the groundwork for broader applications, involving autonomous mobility services for both goods and people, the initial focus will be on light commercial vehicles, particularly medium-sized electric vans, which are ideal for “robotaxi” applications due to Stellantis’s extensive offering in this area, allowing for scalable solutions tailored to Europe’s diverse mobility landscape.
Under this partnership, the global leader in autonomous driving technology will integrate its advanced autonomous driving software with the AV-Ready platform (Ready for Autonomous Vehicles) for medium-sized vans (K0), in the BEV version, of the Italian-French group – optimized to support SAE Level 4 capabilities (the second most advanced), incorporating technological updates, adding key elements such as system redundancies and compatibility with state-of-the-art sensor sets, to enable the seamless integration of the complete autonomous driving software.
For the first real-world tests, which will focus on validating safety, performance, and regulatory readiness, it is expected that companies will begin deploying test vehicles based on the Peugeot e-Traveller in Luxembourg in the coming months, followed by a gradual expansion to other European cities starting in 2026. “Driverless vehicles have the potential to transform the way people move around our cities, offering safer and more accessible options for communities”, said Ned Curic, Director of Engineering and Technology at Stellantis. “To realize this vision, we have created Stellantis’ AV-Ready platforms, and we are establishing partnerships with the best players in the industry – Pony.ai stands out for its technical expertise and collaborative approach”, he added.
