The Verne Is A Driverless Taxi From The Man Behind The Bugatti Tourbillon

Mate Rimac is a busy man. Not only does he helm two exclusive hypercar manufacturers – Rimac and Bugatti, the latter of which has just made waves with the Tourbillon – but he’s got all sorts of other projects on the go, including this one: Verne.

You might recall Rimac sharing a teaser a couple of months ago of something sleek and hatchback-shaped, leading to wildly inaccurate speculation by, erm, us that his eponymous firm was working on an electric hot hatch. He was quick to clarify that it was in fact nothing of the sort, but instead was a first glimpse at an autonomous taxi designed for the world’s cities.

This is our first proper look at that project. The company, which formerly operated as Project 3 Mobility, is named after French author Jules Verne, best known for works like Journey to the Centre of the Earth and Around the World in Eighty Days. That explains why those early teasers were filled with pictures of him (whether it’s also a tribute to the late actor who played Mini-Me in the Austin Powers films is unconfirmed).

Naturally, it’s electric and is designed to be completely driverless. As a result, there are no controls at all – just a huge 43-inch wide infotainment screen controlled by the two passengers via a central touchscreen.

And yes, it is just two passengers – Verne’s research apparently shows that fewer than 10 per cent of taxi journeys are made by more than two people, so the company elected to prioritise space and lightness over packing people in.

As a result, the interior – accessed via sliding doors – gets two comfy-looking reclining chairs, with a huge, flat windscreen and circular sunroof shedding plenty of light. A Verne-specific ride-hailing app will allow for preconditioning of the cabin, right down to temperature and even scent – which could be handy if the previous occupants had a particularly greasy kebab with them.

Verne first plans to launch a fleet of its taxis in Zagreb, the capital of Rimac’s home nation of Croatia, in 2026. Following that, there are plans to roll them out in other European cities from 2027, including Manchester, presumably taking advantage of the recent UK legislation laying out a legal framework for driverless cars. If all goes to plan, then, it could well be one of these rather than a slightly leggy Prius that you’re stumbling into at 2:30am in the Northern Quarter.