Slovakia becomes WeRide’s fourth European market as the firm begins testing in Bratislava ahead of fully driverless commercial operations

WeRide has entered Slovakia through a partnership with ELEVATE Slovakia, a national multi-stakeholder initiative, making it the autonomous driving firm’s fourth European market after France, Belgium and Switzerland. Testing is scheduled to begin in Bratislava in the first half of 2026, with expansion to Košice and the High Tatras region to follow, ahead of planned fully driverless commercial operations.

ELEVATE Slovakia brings together the Ministry of Transport, the Ministry of Investments, Regional Development and Informatization, the City of Bratislava, Slovak Post, academic institutions and private companies. WeRide will deploy its Robotaxi, Robobus, Robovan and Robosweeper products across passenger mobility, parcel logistics and municipal sanitation applications. Slovak technology firm DiusAi will serve as the implementation partner, handling system integration and local operational support.

All testing will be conducted under Ministry of Transport supervision to ensure compliance with Slovak and European regulations. WeRide says the programme represents Europe’s first large-scale, multi-product autonomous vehicle commercial deployment.

“WeRide’s global expansion is picking up speed as more governments and cities advance large-scale autonomous mobility,” said Tony Han, Founder and Chief Executive of WeRide. “Slovakia represents a strategic next step as we extend our global presence to 12 countries.”

Minister of Transport Jozef Ráž added: “I view the signing of this agreement as the beginning of a process that will allow Slovakia to responsibly and in a controlled manner test autonomous technologies in transport.”

Source: WeRide