Gasgoo Munich- Autonomous driving company WeRide announced on March 19 it has entered into a national-level strategic partnership with the ELEVATE Slovakia initiative, marking the launch of Slovakia's first autonomous vehicle program. The project stands out as Europe's first large-scale commercialization effort led at the national level, spanning multiple autonomous mobility applications rather than focusing on a single use case.
Image source: WeRide
With this move, Slovakia becomes the fourth European market in WeRide's expansion roadmap, following France, Belgium, and Switzerland. The company now operates across more than 40 cities in 12 countries, reflecting a steady push to globalize its autonomous driving technologies.
The ELEVATE Slovakia initiative brings together a broad coalition of public and private stakeholders, including the country's Ministry of Transport of the Slovak Republic and Ministry of Investments, Regional Development and Informatization, as well as the city government of Bratislava, the national postal service Slovak Post, as well as universities and technology firms. The program is designed to establish a regulatory-compliant and sustainable framework for autonomous mobility, laying the groundwork for eventual nationwide deployment of fully driverless services.
Under the partnership, WeRide plans to deploy its full portfolio of autonomous driving products in Slovakia, covering Robotaxi, Robobus, Robovan, and Robosweeper. These will be applied across a range of real-world scenarios, from passenger transport in collaboration with national authorities, to unmanned parcel delivery with the postal service, and smart sanitation operations with municipal partners in Bratislava.
The first batch of vehicles is scheduled to arrive in spring 2026, with initial testing set to begin in the capital, Bratislava, in the first half of the year. The program will then expand to other regions, including Košice and the High Tatras. All trials will be conducted under the supervision of the Slovak transport authority to ensure compliance with both national and EU regulations, with a phased transition toward fully driverless commercial operations once legal and safety benchmarks are met.
Within the collaboration framework, WeRide will serve as the core technology provider, while Slovak firm DiusAi will act as the local partner responsible for system integration and operational support.
DiusAi CEO Patrik Tkáč said the partnership enables Slovakia not only to adopt autonomous driving technologies but also to actively test, evaluate, and integrate them into its domestic transport ecosystem. He emphasized that the evolution of autonomous mobility depends on sustained testing, open technical dialogue, and continuous regulatory refinement—principles that underpin the ELEVATE Slovakia initiative.
The launch of the program further strengthens WeRide's commercial footprint in Europe, as the company continues to accelerate the large-scale deployment and industrialization of autonomous driving solutions worldwide.
