Verne, a redefined approach to urban autonomous mobility in cities, has been introduced. Founded by Mate Rimac and two of his closest colleagues and friends from Rimac Group – Marko Pejković, now CEO of Verne, and Adriano Mudri, the designer of Nevera and Chief Design Officer at Verne.
The unveil event was held at the new Rimac Campus outside of Zagreb. The three founders showed a radically different autonomous vehicle design and the functionalities that the future mobility service will have.
The new service and its ecosystem are based on three key elements: a fully autonomous electric vehicle, a bespoke app, and specialised infrastructure. The first service will be launched in Zagreb in 2026.
URBAN AUTONOMOUS MOBILITY ECOSYSTEM
New urban autonomous mobility ecosystem is based on three key elements:
- Fully autonomous electric vehicle
The vehicle is built on a completely new platform designed around safety and comfort, engineered solely for autonomous driving using the Mobileye Drive autonomous platform. It is completely rethought, conceived, designed, and engineered as a safe and comfortable autonomous vehicle. Built from the ground up it is free from the compromises and disadvantages necessary in using a legacy platform built for human driving.
- Mobility service platform (MSP)
It’s a re-envisioning of the ride-hailing app and mobility platform. The customers can personalise the vehicle’s settings via app before ordering a ride. That way, the vehicle will be set exactly how you like it with the comfort, lighting, temperature and even scent. Even though the customer will never own the vehicle, it will be tailored to feel like your own. On the backend, Verne uses all the benefits an autonomous connected fleet provides to make the service run smoothly and efficiently in every city.
- Infrastructure
In each city where Verne will operate, there will be a specialised infrastructure called the “Mothership”. It is a place where the Verne vehicles will be inspected, maintained, cleaned and charged daily. This ensures that the customer always gets a safe and clean vehicle.
Additionally, Verne is building its first production facility in Croatia to produce autonomous electric vehicles that will be deployed worldwide.
NEW CHAPTER, NEW NAME – VERNE
Adriano Mudri, Chief Design Officer (CDO) at Verne announced a new brand: “It was tricky to find the right name for our new endeavour that fits the vision. But once it clicked, it clicked, and it was easy to decide. We named ourselves after the Jules Verne, the famous author, who is said to be ‘the man who invented the future’. Just as he used the theme of travel as the driving force in his storytelling, we use it as our inspiration in shaping a future filled with imaginative innovation
and tangible achievement. His faith in the future and his spirit sparked the curiosity in generations of scientists and explorers. Making things that sometimes seem impossible, possible.”
HOW IS OUR APPROACH DIFFERENT – WE WANT TO GET THE USER EXPERIENCE RIGHT
At Verne, we believe it’s not about being the first, but it’s about creating the perfect customer experience. We want to make a difference with our holistic integrated approach, which is designed around the best possible experience. Co-founder of Verne, Mate Rimac: “The end result would be the best possible mobility experience for everyone. This means that every customer will have a better service than the best mobility service enjoyed by the very rich, through the service that is affordable for all. You will have a safe and reliable driver, a vehicle with more interior space and comfort than the best limousines today, and a service that will be tailored to your needs in every possible way. The service will also provide customers with much more than just transportation from point A to point B.
It frees up your travel time, allowing you to think, learn, or relax. Improving your life with every trip. We are shifting the attention from the technology itself to its benefits. Verne will transform travel time into a chance for personal growth, discovery, and enjoyment. In essence, enriching lives in every journey you take”.
VERNE VEHICLE – KEY FACTS AND DESIGN
Verne is nothing like you can currently see on the streets. It is developed on a new purpose-built platform that uses all the benefits of the autonomous-only approach, without a steering wheel or pedals.
AUTONOMOUS DRIVING SYSTEM – MOBILEYE
A partnership with Mobileye, a world leader in autonomy, enables Verne’s autonomous capabilities. The vehicle will be fully autonomous, with a system capable of driving in dynamic urban traffic.
For the past several years, the company has been cooperating with Mobileye. Mobileye’s advanced AD platform Mobileye Drive will be integrated into the Verne vehicle and together with a sophisticated sensor set of cameras, radar and lidar enable the automated driving capabilities. The platform is designed to be highly flexible and scalable, to meet the demands of autonomous driving in a variety of locations, on different road types, under varying weather conditions and even taking local driving styles into account, within its operational design domains. All of this is crucial for Verne’s future rollout plans.
VERNE VEHICLE – INTERIOR DESIGN AND UX
The Verne vehicle will have two seats and an interior concept that completely redefines the idea of a vehicle space.
Adriano Mudri said: “Why a 2-seater? Because the data shows that 9 out of 10 rides are used by 1 or 2 people. Therefore, we can satisfy most of all trips with a two-seater and create unmatched interior space in a compact-sized vehicle. We completely redefined interior space. More space than a Rolls-Royce to relax and spend your time well. We optimized the door opening so people can just step in and sit down straight away. Sliding doors were designed not to obstruct traffic flow around the vehicle while still arriving in style. Once inside, passengers can stretch out their legs and get super comfortable. We wanted to make the interior less automotive and more like a living room. There is no typical dashboard, no steering wheel, and no pedals. But an ultra-wide 43-inch display that you can use. This is for entertainment but also to get information about the journey during the ride.”
The Verne vehicle is the perfect place to listen to your music or watch movies. With unmatched comfort, the ultrawide screen and 17 speakers for superb audio quality.
The cabin will be preconditioned and set just the way you like it regardless if it’s hot or cold outside.
The ambiance – sound, and light can accompany your every mood. To calm you, to invigorate, to entertain. The extra-large seats enable 5 different levels of comfort and enjoyment to either work, relax or rest.
Between the seats, there is a Touchpad for interaction with the in-vehicle system, where you can easily adjust the vehicle’s settings. Here is also a key feature that lets you be in control of the most important parts of the ride – the Median. The Median is physical switch used to start and stop the ride, giving an additional sense of control over the autonomous vehicle to the customer.
Above you will be a rounded sunroof – the Halo ring. Nothing like you have ever seen before, it is a portal to new journeys and enables new views of the cities.
Finally, Verne made sure to develop materials that are fit for purpose, to requirements of durability and misuse but at the same time also make it look and feel inviting, premium and cozy.
VERNE VEHICLE – EXTERIOR DESIGN
A key signature of the design, the one that makes Verne stand out in an urban environment, is the general proportion of the vehicle. The unique shape is a result of designing the vehicle from the inside out, as well as the safety-first approach. Verne merged a smooth, encircling, spaceship-like canopy on top with an elegant and solid lower body.
“We managed to achieve a very sleek design despite the additional content, compared to regular cars. We deeply integrated cameras, radars, short and long-distance-lidars, and their cleaning systems. At the same time, we were able to simplify the appearance by removing the typical human-driven vehicle features. We got rid of the windshield wipers. The same goes for side-view mirrors. This makes the aerodynamic performance more efficient and allows for easier cleaning. One typical element of an automobile we kept is the trunk. So you don’t need to worry if you‘re going to the airport with a lot of luggage or just finished a major grocery shopping”, Mudri stated.
The design merges the usually exclusive comfort of an executive limousine onto a vehicle with the dimensions of a compact car. This has never been done before.
RIDE-HAILING APP
This is all you need to start the journey. With the app, you can easily hail the vehicle, check its real-time location, see how long it will take to pick you up, and rest assured that it won’t be cancelled. Each ride can be personalized – from temperature to scent – ensuring that every journey is not just about reaching a destination, but about enjoying the beauty of the ride. This effortless experience gives you the peace of mind and convenience that you deserve. The more customers customize the vehicle, the deeper the comfort and sense of ownership.
INFRASTRUCTURE – MOTHERSHIP AND PRODUCTION FACILITY
Key part of our ecosystem and the service is the infrastructure, or as we call it – the Mothership.
“Mothership is a home where our Verne vehicles are taken care of. Here is where the Verne vehicles get inspected daily, get maintained daily, get cleaned daily, and get charged, so that they are always safe, clean, and ready to take you on a new adventure. The first Mothership will be built in Zagreb, next to our HQ”, said Marko Pejković, CEO of Verne.
Pejković also announced that the company is starting to build a production facility in Zagreb, for the large-scale production of autonomous electric vehicles that will be deployed worldwide. “The location of the production facility will be in the southern part of Zagreb. Our vehicles will be assembled, calibrated, and tested here. This production facility will put Croatia on the map as a country that encourages the development of key future technologies that will bring many benefits to the community”, Pejković explained.
ROLL-OUT AND EXPANSION PLAN
The first Verne service will be launched in Zagreb. After Zagreb, Verne will roll out in other European cities (first in the UK and Germany), and in the Middle East. The company has already signed agreements with 11 cities in EU, UK and the Middle East, and is negotiating with more than 30 cities worldwide, who want to become Verne partners.
KEY BENEFITS OF THE PROJECT
At Verne, we believe our approach to future mobility will bring many benefits from economic, urban infrastructure, and social aspects.
ECONOMIC ASPECT: Our service is creating a real business that will provide real benefits to our customers but also to the community we operate in. Mobility is the key enabler of economic opportunities and by giving wide access to the best possible mobility experience in the city will be a great boost for democratization of economic opportunities.
CITY INFRASTRUCTURE ASPECT: Optimise and improve the current transportation system, reduce the usage of private cars in the city centre, free up traffic lanes and parking spaces in urban areas and create more space for the people.
SOCIAL ASPECT: Sustainable solution, positive impact on the environment, increased road safety, reduction of negative environmental impact both by reducing significantly the number of cars needed but also by having a cleaner and more efficient way to use them. Increase transportation accessibility and inclusivity, time efficiency, and turning parking space into public usage space.
VERNE SERVICE TO SUPPORT PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION: In partnership with the cities where we operate, our service will support and work together with other clean and efficient urban modes of transport such as walking, cycling and public transport. It will complement public transport, not compete against it. In the longer term, Verne should help remove the need for a second or third car in the household that takes up parking spaces, is used rarely, and is a significant expense.
HOW IT ALL STARTED – FOUNDERS’ STORY
Mate Rimac founded Rimac Automobili in 2011. Back then he had a dream to develop the world’s first all-electric hypercar, harnessing the potential of the electric motor for performance.
In 2021 the Rimac team presented the Nevera, powered by in-house-developed technology including a state-of-the-art 120kWh battery and 1,914hp all-electric powertrain. Today, Nevera is the most powerful and fastest accelerating production car in the world and a true marvel of technology.
On this journey, together with Mate, were two of his closest colleagues and friends – Marko Pejković, now CEO of Verne, and Adriano Mudri, the designer of Nevera and Chief Design Officer at Verne.
Ten years ago, they were struggling to build an automotive company here in Croatia. With no previous experience, no supply network, no venture funding, and almost no automotive industry in Croatia, this was the most unlikely place to achieve this. The chances of even surviving were slim but they had a strong vision and a belief in what they and their team were doing.
In the Rimac Group today, Rimac Technology provides sophisticated battery systems and motors to the world’s largest OEMs, including BMW and Porsche. Bugatti Rimac operates as the ultimate hypercar company, with a blend of Rimac Automobili’s distinctive agility, technical expertise and relentless innovation in the EV sphere with Bugatti’s 110-year heritage of design and engineering. And the Rimac Campus – one of Europe’s most ambitious construction projects – stands as the future home of it all.
Much of this seemed impossible at the time… and yet, it was done.
Verne is the next “impossible” thing.
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