French beat Google to driverless taxis

Navya Technologies has announced it is only a year away from offering fully autonomous robotaxis for sale following successful trials involving 50 shuttles in Europe, North America, Asia and the Pacific.

The trials began in Navya's native Paris back in July, involving 15-seater driverless shuttles which operated in the business district of the French capital.

Developed in part with French supplier, Valeo, Navya's smaller six-seat cab will come with a pure-electric powertrain limited to a top speed of 80km/h.

Further testing of the entirely driverless taxi is set to begin within a few weeks, ahead of a planned sales launch in the third quarter of 2018.

According to Navya, the first batch of this next round of testing will be carried out in partnership with French transport operator Keolis and the Sydney-based Royal Automobile Club of Australia (RACA) which, combined, have ordered 30 cars.

It's not been confirmed if the RACA's local testing will be on-road or at a proving ground.

Instead of building its robotaxi on home soil, Navya has invested in a production facility in Michigan, North America.

By the end of 2018, the French-car maker says it hopes to sell 450 of its minibus shuttles -- a third of which will be destined for US buyers.

Unfortunately, if you fancy your very own robotaxi to shuttle you to and from the pub, buying a Navya won't come cheap.

The range of minibuses is said to start at a hefty $US290,000 ($A370,000).

Speaking to Automotive News, Navya CEO Christophe Sapet said potential customers range from ride-hailing apps like Uber to car rental operators like Hertz.

Navya hopes its head start will provide a competitive edge over its better financed competition.

Recently Google-backed Waymo surprised many in the industry by announcing it was carrying out autonomous vehicle testing without any human behind the wheel – although this follows eight years and 5.6 million kilometres of claimed real-world testing on public roads.