Rimac Announces 'Verne' Robotaxi - Comparing it to Tesla's Upcoming Robotaxi [Photos + Video]

Rimac announces the Verne robotaxi, which looks similar to Tesla’s concepts

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Rimac, the company behind the Rimac Nevera electric hypercar, has announced that it intends to produce a robotaxi, and it looks quite similar to Tesla’s concepts. Much of what we’ve heard about Tesla’s upcoming robotaxi, the Cybercab, is featured in Rimac’s autonomous vehicle. From the two seats to the airy interior and the center-screen-focused interior, it’s all here, although there are significant differences as well. Rimac’s prototype, called Verne, was revealed on Wednesday, June 26^th.

Verne Robotaxi

Verne will include a 43

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The Verne is expected to begin operation in 2026 and is a two-seater robotaxi using Mobileye’s LiDAR technology. The vehicle is expected to be a level 4 autonomous vehicle, which means it would still require remote support for handling complex situations, similar to Waymo’s work in San Franciso.

The Verne has a 43” display, and 17 speakers, and is supposedly designed to emulate “a room on wheels”, with an inside-out design concept. Interestingly, rather than regular doors, the Verne has doors that swing forward horizontally, along with a keypad-based entry system.

A smaller screen between the front seats lets you control certain aspects of the vehicle

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Rimac says they have signed agreements to launch in 11 cities in the EU, the UK, and the Middle East. They have also mentioned they are negotiating contracts with 30 more cities worldwide.

Rimac also showed off images of its robotaxi app and a concept building for its robotaxis – presumably a charging and service hub.

The verne will feature sliding doors, a lot like a minivan

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Comparing Rimac’s Robotaxi to Tesla’s

Although Tesla has yet to reveal the Cybercab, there are several things Tesla has already talked about for their upcoming robotaxi. One key difference between Rimac’s vision and Tesla’s is that Tesla appears to be chasing the cheapest possible transport, with Tesla previously touting ride prices that would rival bus ticket prices. While Rimac appears to focus more on an ideal experience. While everyone loves extra luxury, at the end of the day, price usually wins.

The Rimac robotaxi app

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One example is Tesla’s single center screen, compared to Rimac’s two screens. In addition to the viewable 43” center display, which presumably is not a touch-screen, Rimac has a separate screen and controls between both passenger seats. Tesla’s approach appears to focus on a single screen, with the user controlling much of the car’s control such as music and climate through Tesla’s robotaxi app.

Another example is Rimac’s idea of including an entry pad and screen on the outside of the vehicle for passenger to be able to unlock the vehicle. Tesla’s approach to unlocking a vehicle is expected to rely on temporary keys that are tied to user’s phones leveraging ultra wideband, a lot like how Tesla’s phone keys work today on newer vehicles.

Tesla’s approach to autonomy is also drastically different than Mobileye’s, which relies on radar, LiDAR and more cameras than Tesla’s Autopilot suite today.

Viability

This announcement from Rimac is a bit of an oddity. As a company, Rimac has produced less than 150 vehicles in their short lifespan – all hand-designed and hand-produced Rimac Nevara hypercars. Their ability to scale to produce more than a handful of these Verne robotaxis, while visually appealing, is questionable at best.

On the same front, Rimac recently received a $200M Euro grant from the EU as part of a package to develop an economic recovery plan for Croatia. Rimac has also received $80M Euros in funding from Hyundai and Kia – but that was to collaborate on a high-performance fuel cell electric vehicle, and a high-performance EV sports car.

The exterior of the Verne robotaxi

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Beyond that, Rimac has never done any work with autonomy – the self-driving tech that is running the Verne is entirely based on the outsourced work from Mobileye. It seems that the Verne will serve as Mobileye’s real-life test on whether its technology can be integrated into a Robotaxi platform on its own.

Tesla previously used Mobileye’s technology for its own autonomy during its inception years (AP 1) but quickly moved on towards using its own vision-based camera tech instead.

The Rimac robotaxi app

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The interior of the Verne

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Tesla Increases Price of Model S; Starts Offering Free Lifetime Supercharging

Not a Tesla App

For the first time in quite a while, Tesla has increased the price of one of its vehicle offerings. The Model S Long Range and the Model S Plaid have both received a hefty price increase. However, not all is bad - as Tesla also added a new benefit for buyers.

Price Increase

The price increase for the Model S is $5,000 - currently only in the United States. This price increase will likely impact other markets, including Canada, in the coming days.

The Model S Long Range now starts at $79,990, while the Model S Plaid now starts at $94,990. The Model S and Model X now have the same starting price. Interestingly, that’s also the same pricing point for the Cybertruck AWD and Cyberbeast Trimotor non-Foundation Series. 

The vehicle configuration does not appear to have changed, so the new pricing is simply an increase rather than the addition or removal of features. Tesla previously cut the price of the Model S and Model X by 15% in 2023, so this could simply be an adjustment to ensure that the vehicle pricing stays in line with inflation and other factors.

Free Lifetime Supercharging

For those on the fence about ordering a Model S, Tesla has brought back Free Lifetime Supercharging when you order a new Model S on or after December 13, 2024. As always, Free Lifetime Supercharging is restricted to the buyer’s Tesla account and to that specific vehicle. It cannot be transferred to another vehicle or another owner after ownership transfer. It’s worth noting, that it also doesn’t exclude the owner from receiving Supercharger idle fees or congestion fees. There is currently no end date for this promotion.

There are currently no changes to the Model X, neither a price increase nor the addition of Lifetime Superchargering. However, when Tesla makes changes to one of their premium vehicles, it usually affects the other one as well. So be on the lookout for potential changes to the Model X offering in the coming days.

We’ve seen Tesla value Lifetime Supercharging at $5,000, so this falls in line with the price increase we’re seeing. It’s possible that Tesla will begin to bring back Lifetime Supercharging as a perk for buying into their more premium Model S and Model X cars, or this could be another temporary promotion to get buyers who are on the fence to go ahead and make their purchase while this promotion lasts.

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Tesla’s Optimus Robot Learns to Walk Without Vision [VIDEO]

Optimus Falls - but catches itself!

Not a Tesla App

Tesla recently showed off a demo of Optimus, its humanoid robot, walking around in moderately challenging terrain—not on a flat surface but on dirt and slopes. These things can be difficult for a humanoid robot, especially during the training cycle.

Daily walks help clear your mind pic.twitter.com/dUsW58trS6

— Tesla Optimus (@Tesla_Optimus) December 9, 2024

A Look Behind the Curtain

Most interestingly, Milan Kovac, VP of Engineering for Optimus, clarified what it takes to get Optimus to this stage. Let’s break down what he said.

Optimus is Blind

Optimus is getting seriously good at walking now - it can keep its balance over uneven ground - even while walking blind. Tesla is currently using just the sensors, all powered by a neural net running on the embedded computer. 

Essentially, Tesla is building Optimus from the ground up, relying on as much additional data as possible while it trains vision. This is similar to how they train FSD on vehicles, using LiDAR rigs to validate the vision system’s accuracy. While Optimus doesn’t have LiDAR, it relies on all those other sensors on board, many of which will likely become simplified as vision takes over as the primary sensor.

Today, Optimus is walking blind, but it’s able to react almost instantly to changes in the terrain underneath it, even if it falls or slips. 

What’s Next?

Next up, Tesla AI will be adding vision to Optimus - helping complete the neural net. Remember, Optimus runs on the same overall AI stack as FSD - in fact, Optimus uses an FSD computer and an offshoot of the FSD stack for vision-based tasks.

Milan mentions they’re planning on adding vision to help the robot plan ahead and improve its walking gait. While the zombie shuffle is iconic and a little bit amusing, getting humanoid robots to walk like humans is actually difficult.

There’s plenty more, too - including better responsiveness to velocity and direction commands and learning to fall and stand back up. Falling while protecting yourself to minimize damage is something natural to humans - but not exactly natural to something like a robot. Training it to do so is essential in keeping the robot, the environment around it, and the people it is interacting with safe.

We’re excited to see what’s coming with Optimus next because it is already getting started in some fashion in Tesla’s factories.

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