The goal is to deploy over 10,000 ID and Buzz vehicles by 2031.
ID and Buzz have been selected by May Mobility and will be deployed by its fleet operation partners.
May Mobility will collaborate with ECARX on the integration of autonomous driving kits, and work together with Charlton Intelligence and ai to advance vehicle deployment.
Ann Arbor, Michigan, November 12, 2026 / PRNewswire / — Commercial ride-hailing autonomous driving technology developer May Mobility announced today that it plans to introduce its iconic Volkswagen ID Buzz onto its global Robotaxi platform, with support from May Mobility's autonomous driving system. The goal of May Mobility is to deploy over 10,000 autonomous ID Buzz vehicles by 2031.
The plan includes delivering Volkswagen ID Buzz vehicles that have been adapted to meet the design requirements of the May Mobility autonomous driving suite (ADK), thereby creating a mass production platform suitable for expanding the scale of autonomous driving fleets. The target delivery time for the first batch of mass-produced vehicles is 2028.
May Mobility indicates that it will utilize the alliance previously announced with the global automotive intelligence company ECARX (Nasdaq code: ECX) to integrate May Mobility's autonomous driving system into the ID Buzz version suitable for autonomous vehicles, which will then be deployed by May Mobility in collaboration with its fleet operation partners. Relevant development work has already begun, and road tests in the United States are set to start at the beginning of 2027.
May Mobility also indicates that its cooperation with ECARX, Charlton Intelligence, and ai in the supply chain will support the company in achieving an overall cost savings of over 50% compared to the current generation of vehicles. Charlton Intelligence and ai have joined forces with May Mobility to assist in deploying the autonomous driving version of Volkswagen ID. Buzz.
May Mobility CEO and founder, Dr. Edwin Olson, stated: "The scaling of autonomous ride-hailing vehicles largely depends on the vehicle platform, and Volkswagen ID Buzz is very suitable for this purpose. We believe that passengers will enjoy riding in ID equipped with the May Mobility autonomous driving system, and this car will be built on an economic model that can scale with the expansion of the Robotaxi market."
ID and Buzz will bring a more engaging experience to the Robotaxi market.
May Mobility indicates that ID and Buzz support their goal of combining industry-leading passenger experience with autonomous driving capabilities, providing passengers with a new reason to choose autonomous ride-hailing cars. ID. Buzz draws inspiration from the forward-thinking design of classic buses, blending high-tech engineering with a retro charm. This model is a pure electric vehicle, suitable for Robotaxi deployments, and features multiple doors for boarding and alighting, spacious interior space, as well as a design that is distinct from other Robotaxi.
Proven technology and commercial operation track record
According to May Mobility, the company is a pioneer in applying the "light assets, cooperation first" model to the deployment of Robotaxi entities by AI, which has enabled it to differentiate itself in an industry traditionally dominated by heavy-asset fleet operators. May Mobility's autonomous driving system understands the physical world through a predictive world model and makes inferences based on that understanding. This system can simulate scenarios up to 10 seconds into the future, assess various driving strategies in real-time, and execute the plan that is deemed most suitable for the current circumstances.
May Mobility indicates that the company has completed over 600,000 commercial autonomous driving trips in the United States and Japan, with a cumulative driving distance of 1.1 million miles, including three instances so far where no safety operator was deployed. May Mobility states that the company is one of the few enterprises to have deployed driverless routes for the public at multiple locations in the United States.
May Mobility is currently conducting commercial operations in three locations in the United States, including a collaboration with Lyft in Atlanta, as well as providing autonomous driving services in Eden Prairie and Grand Rapids, Minnesota. The company aims to launch commercial operations in Arlington, Texas, with Uber by 2027. In addition, a six-month pilot project for on-demand autonomous vehicles conducted with NTT Mobility in Nagoya, Japan, was launched in September.
More details regarding vehicle specifications, testing, and deployment are expected to be announced in the near future.
About May Mobility
May Mobility develops autonomous vehicle technology for commercial ride-hailing and public transportation services. The company states that its patented AI system, which operates on the vehicle side, integrates deep learning, dynamic world models, and real-time inference engines to handle new and complex situations on the road. May Mobility claims that it has collaborated with Toyota Motor, NTT, Lyft, Uber, and Grab to provide "autonomous driving as a service" (AaaS) on a commercial scale, and has completed over 500,000 commercial autonomous driving trips in deployments in the United States and Japan.
