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

Chinese electric vehicle maker Nio Inc.'s (NYSE: NIO) ES8 SUV will be used by Intel Corp.’s (NASDAQ: 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