6 Bolt, Pony.ai and Stellantis test self-driving mobility in Luxembourg By Lena Mårtensson, Senior Marketing & Communication Officer, Luxinnovation GIE Why did Bolt and its partners choose Luxembourg for their autonomous vehicle pilot? Marc Naether, Head of Public Policy BeNeLux, explains the regulatory and ecosystem advantages, including Luxinnovation’s support. A regulatory head start for autonomous vehicle pilots In June 2026, Estonia-based European mobility platform Bolt, autonomous driving technology company Pony.ai and automaker Stellantis announced the launch of an autonomous mobility pilot programme in Luxembourg. The objective is to test the technologies and operational processes required to support safe driverless mobility in cities. “We will test the whole ecosystem needed: vehicle deployment, platform integration, fleet operations and regulatory coordination,” says Marc Naether, Head of Public Policy BeNeLux at Bolt, who is directly involved in establishing the company’s operations in Luxembourg. Bolt has been in contact with Luxembourg authorities for several years on a variety of mobility-related topics. However, discussions around autonomous mobility gained momentum following an event in Brussels in autumn 2025, where Mr Naether met Anthony Auert from Luxinnovation. During the meeting, he learned about Luxembourg’s ambition to become the first European country to roll out automated driving nationwide by 2028. A few months later, Bolt and its partners decided to launch their project in the Grand Duchy. “Luxembourg is one of the few countries that have a favourable regulatory regime for this type of autonomous vehicle pilot project,” Mr Naether explains. “We will start by operating under the scientific testing regime for autonomous vehicles (a regulatory framework allowing companies to operate autonomous vehicles for research purposes on public roads [Ed.]), and are currently waiting for our permit to be granted. Next year, the Luxembourg government is expected to adopt a new law allowing the commercial deployment of self-driving vehicles including autonomous taxis. This would allow us to take the next step.” Why Luxembourg is becoming Europe’s autonomous mobility testbed The initiative is part of Bolt’s ambition to accelerate the transition from privately owned cars to shared mobility. At the launch of the project, Markus Villig, founder and CEO of Bolt, pointed out that autonomous mobility technology is transforming transportation around the world, and that Bolt wants to be at the forefront of scaling this technology in Europe. Pony.ai, which chose Luxembourg as the base for its European expansion in 2024, contributes to the project with its autonomous driving technology and operation experience. Stellantis provides its technical platform enabling driverless operations as well as its vehicle engineering and expertise in manufacturing. “We decided to use Luxembourg as our ‘living lab’ to develop our autonomous driving plans,” says Mr Naether. “Based on the research and pilot testing we will do here, we will develop a product including driverless vehicles that we can scale elsewhere in Europe.” Three reasons Bolt chose Luxembourg for its autonomous driving pilot When asked why Luxembourg stood out among potential locations, Mr Naether is specific: Image: © BOLT
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