European Commission approves €179.5 million state aid to robo-taxi project

Last month, the European Commission approved EUR 179.5 million for Croatia's state aid, for the development of an innovative urban mobility service based on fully autonomous electric vehicles led by Croatian electric car producer, Rimac Automobili.

The measure is part of a wider urban mobility project in Zagreb, Croatia, where users will be able to combine multiple transport modes via a single integrated mobility service platform. The robo-taxi project will be trialled in Zagreb and, if successful, rolled out to other European cities.

The Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF) will provide part of the funding after Croatia's Recovery and Resilience Plan received a positive assessment by the European Commission and approval by the European Council. The state aid granted to the project will cover approximately 45% of the eligible costs. A claw-back mechanism will be triggered if the project proves successful and generates additional significant revenue, where the beneficiary will return a proportion of the aid to ensure fairness and balance.

KIA Motors, as part of the Hyundai Motor Group, is an investor and shareholder of Project 3 Mobility, which is Rimac Automobili’s sister company and is in charge of the project.

Marko Pejkovic, CEO of Project 3 Mobility, said that they were proud to have successfully fulfilled all the criteria and demonstrated the value of the project to Croatian and EU institutions. Over the last two years, they have demonstrated how the project aligns to the Commission’s green and digital transition goals and provides added value to various societal aspects.

The initial investment in the project is estimated at EUR 450 million, prior to the commercial phase of the project (expected to be reached from the end of 2024). This investment will come from foreign investors, such as KIA Motors, and potentially from other European investors and investors in the Middle East.