Nio ES8 EVs To Be Used By Intel In Its Robotaxi Test In Germany

Chinese electric vehicle maker Nio Inc.'s NIO ES8 SUV will be used by Intel Corp.’s INTC subsidiary Mobileye and German car rental giant Sixt SE for a ride-hailing robotaxi service test in Munich starting next year.

What Happened: Riders will be able to access the service using either the Moovit app or the integrated SIXT app for ride-hailing, car rental, car-sharing and car subscriptions, Intel and Sixt said at the IAA Mobility event in Munich.

The test fleet of self-driving vehicles will begin with a few dozen vehicles and grow over time. The service will begin commercial operations after receiving regulatory approval, the two companies said.

Mobileye and Sixt plan to expand the driverless ride-sharing service across Germany and other European countries later this decade.

See Also: How To Buy Nio (NIO) Stock

Why It Matters: The use of Nio’s cars for the robotaxi service test provides a boost to the electric vehicle maker, which had entered into a collaboration with Mobileye in November 2019 for Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) and autonomous driving.

At that time, Nio said it will manufacture a self-driving system using Mobileye's level-4 AV kit and also mass-produce the system for Mobileye while integrating the technology into its own EV lineup.

Price Action: Nio’s shares closed 0.5% higher in Tuesday’s trading at $40.59, while Intel’s share closed almost 0.3% higher at $53.65.

Read Next: Rumor: Nio To Launch Its Second Sedan, The ET5, At Nio Day Early Next Year

Photo: Courtesy of JengTingChen