Bolt Taps Nvidia, Lucid for Madrid Robotaxi Pilot in 2027

Estonian ride-hailing platform Bolt said Wednesday it will launch a robotaxi program in Madrid in 2027, deploying Nvidia's Alpamayo software across a fleet of at least 25,000 electric vehicles built by Lucid (LCID). The company aims to expand into major French and German cities by the end of that year. Madrid will serve as the first pilot as Spain moves to issue permits for autonomous vehicle road testing. Initial deployment will be far smaller than the full plan — Bolt told Reuters it expects "dozens" of cars on Madrid streets next year to collect real-world operating data. Bolt autonomous driving head Jevgeni Kabanov said Madrid was chosen because its testing permit system allows limited commercial operations before full approval. He added that the self-driving software runs entirely onboard without internet connectivity for security reasons.