MUNICH - Münchner Taxi Zentrum, the city's largest taxi operator, has signed a letter of intent with the American company Tensor Auto to run up to 500 of Tensor's self-driving Robocars as taxis in German cities, the two companies said on Tuesday. The fleet depends on definitive agreements that have not yet been signed and on Level 4 approval from German regulators.
The companies announced the plan at the Madrid Autonomous Mobility Summit, Unite.AI reported. Under the arrangement, MTZ would operate the cars under its own brand and keep its customers, its data and its existing booking system, so riders would hail a Robocar the same way they now hail an MTZ taxi. Tensor would sell the vehicles and supply the driving software, fleet tools, service and training as a subscription it calls Autonomous Driving as a Service. Financial institutions would finance the fleets, the companies said.
The model is a departure from the approach of most robotaxi companies, which run their own fleets and own the rider relationship. MTZ, not Tensor, would operate the vehicles, and the taxi company would decide with the city where, when and how they run, according to the announcement.
"The taxi industry has a leading role to bring sustainable autonomous driving to Europe," Gregor Beiner, MTZ's chief executive, said in the statement. He added that the company's drivers "remain indispensable" wherever personal service or assistance is needed.
Jay Xiao, Tensor's founder and chief executive, called MTZ "an important partner as we bring this vision to Germany and expand across Europe."
The ambitions go beyond Munich. The partners said they aim to place 10,000 more Robocars with taxi companies and fleet operators across Europe within 24 months of the car becoming available there, and they will look at selling it to private buyers in Germany. Mr. Beiner chairs Taxis 4 Smart Mobility, a coalition of taxi organizations from six European countries, and is president of Germany's federal association of taxi and private hire operators. The companies put the market at about 50,000 taxis in Germany and about 500,000 across Europe.
MTZ has served Munich for more than 40 years, employs more than 150 people and started one of Germany's first all-electric premium taxi fleets in 2018, according to the release. Tensor, based in San Jose, Calif., describes the Robocar as a Level 4 vehicle built for both personal ownership and robotaxi service.
Germany allows Level 4 vehicles on public roads under permits from the Federal Motor Transport Authority. Einride and Lidl received one of the first for a cab-less truck in daily operation, Driverless.news reported. Waymo has also named Munich as a planned market, with Allianz Partners lined up to handle its fleet insurance there and in London.