Project 3 Mobility launches the first phase of testing on public roads

The Croatian company Project 3 Mobility, which aims for autonomous vehicles to zip around Zagreb, today initiated the first in a series of phases for testing the autonomous driving system in the City of Zagreb. The first activity in this phase is the collection of traffic data, and for this purpose, standard commercial vehicles equipped with advanced technology necessary for mapping the roads will be used, the company states.

Traffic data such as lane widths, road surfaces, traffic signs, and other markings are essential for validating the autonomous driving system and calibrating sensors to the traffic environment in Zagreb. The company adds that in the coming months, it will conduct numerous activities and phases of testing for the future P3 service. Throughout these phases, various test vehicles will be used that will not resemble the final vehicle that P3 is developing. For data collection, vehicles equipped with advanced sensors and technology from Mobileye, a partner of Project 3 Mobility and a global leader in autonomous driving solutions, will be utilized.

– At P3, we are fully focused on launching the urban mobility service we are developing, starting in Zagreb as the first city. To achieve this, over the next two years, we will conduct various technology tests and our future service on Zagreb’s roads, always in a very safe and controlled manner. This is a complex and demanding process consisting of multiple phases. Data collection and street mapping is just one of them. All these activities are standard and necessary to ensure that our urban mobility service is safe for future users and all citizens. In this phase of testing, the vehicles will not operate autonomously, nor is that their goal. The vehicles are intended solely for collecting data about the traffic environment and infrastructure, while respecting the highest standards of privacy protection for traffic participants, stated Marko Pejković, CEO of Project 3 Mobility.

In the data collection phase, the vehicles will be operated by qualified test drivers engaged by Project 3 Mobility.

– Our task is very clear. We operate the data collection vehicle just like any other vehicle on our roads. The system is used solely for data collection purposes, says Dario Šamec, one of the qualified test drivers and data collection engineers.

The vehicles will operate in Zagreb’s streets within predefined zones. The first activities will begin in the area of New Zagreb. After the vehicles pass the first defined zone, they will move to the next, until all roads in all defined zones are processed. The selected area covers the entire Zagreb – from Podsljeme to New Zagreb, from Podsused – Vrapče to Dubrava.

After this activity, Project 3 Mobility will initiate another activity in this phase of testing the autonomous driving technology. Different test vehicles from those used for mapping will be employed, and they will also be operated by drivers, with the aim of demonstrating and testing the autonomous driving system on the streets. Project 3 Mobility will specifically announce this activity in the coming months.

Big Delays

Let us remind you, Rimac initially announced robotaxis for the end of 2024, and now we see that mapping alone will take at least the next two years, so Mate’s big announcement clearly has no backing. And as is often the case with similar projects, mapping and testing will likely take longer than the stated two years. Additionally, Project 3 Mobility recently partnered with the Israeli company Mobileye, which develops solutions for autonomous driving such as cameras, computer chips, and software. Interestingly, Tesla ended its collaboration with this company after a traffic accident, so we can only hope that something similar will not happen during testing in Zagreb.

Money Cap

In addition to receiving 180 million euros from the NPOO, the company was recently invested in by one of the largest investment funds in the world – the Public Investment Fund (PIF) from Saudi Arabia, marking its first investment in Croatia. The Saudi state investment fund accounted for approximately a quarter of total investments from state stabilization funds worldwide last year, which approached a level of 124 billion dollars, of which PIF invested as much as 31.5 billion dollars. This fund generously invested in football and golf last year and acquired a majority ownership stake in four of the top football clubs in that country, including Al Nassr, where Cristiano Ronaldo has been playing since last year.

PIF entered the ownership structure of Project 3 Mobility through its investment company TASARU Mobility Investments, which invests in smart and sustainable mobility solutions.

Previously, one of the largest South Korean car manufacturers – Kia – also invested in Project 3 Mobility. Additionally, leading Bulgarian software company SiteGround, Croatian IT company Infinum, Rimac Group, and other key investors such as the investment company specializing in advanced technologies – Neurone and Qatari company Elaf Auto have also invested in Project 3 Mobility.

Necessary Law

As we have already written in Lider, there is still no law that would allow autonomous vehicles to operate on the roads. Some laws only ‘recognize’ the existence of driverless vehicles but do not define the rules under which they can operate on the roads. This should be addressed by the Draft Proposal for the Law on Road Transport being prepared by the Ministry of the Sea, Transport, and Infrastructure. It will therefore be interesting to see which comes first, robotaxis in Zagreb or the Croatian administration.