May Mobility to convert 10,000 VW ID. Buzz vans into robotaxis by 2031

May Mobility plans to deploy more than 10,000 autonomous Volkswagen ID. Buzz electric vans in robotaxi services worldwide by 2031. The US technology company announced the program this week, with public road testing in the US scheduled to begin in early 2027 and first production-ready vehicles set for delivery in 2028.

Volkswagen will technically adapt the ID. Buzz for the conversion. May Mobility will then equip the van with its autonomous driving system, built on an Autonomous Driving Kit (ADK) supplied by ECARX, a Chinese technology group headquartered in London. German firm Charlton Intelligence.ai joins the program as a third partner, handling vehicle delivery and deployment.

Through the collaboration, May Mobility aims to cut total cost per vehicle by more than 50%. That cost target matters because the company operates an asset-light model: it does not own or operate vehicle fleets itself, instead supplying its AI-powered driving technology to external fleet operators and mobility platforms. Lower per-vehicle cost therefore translates directly into the business case its customers underwrite.

How the driving system works

The AI software runs all calculations on the vehicle's local onboard computers rather than offloading them to an external cloud. That architecture lets the vehicle respond almost without delay and stay independent of a mobile network connection.

The software relies on a predictive world model — a simulation of surrounding traffic — to look up to ten seconds ahead and evaluate various driving manoeuvres in real time. Onboard compute also removes a common deployment constraint: robotaxi operations no longer depend on cellular coverage in the service area.

What does this change for fleet operators?

For operators weighing entry into autonomous ride-hail, the deal changes three variables at once. The ID. Buzz supplies a series-production electric platform rather than a bespoke conversion vehicle. The ECARX-sourced ADK gives May Mobility a hardware partner with scale. And the claimed 50% cost reduction per vehicle improves the unit economics that have kept most robotaxi programs subscale. May Mobility's claims of cost reduction remain a stated target, not a verified production figure.

"Scaling autonomous ride-hail depends heavily on the vehicle platform, and the Volkswagen ID. Buzz gives us one well suited for it," said Dr Edwin Olson, CEO and founder of May Mobility. "We think riders will love the ID. Buzz running on May Mobility's autonomous driving system, and the vehicle will be built on economics that can scale with the robotaxi market."

Track record so far

May Mobility already runs commercial operations, including a collaboration with Lyft in Atlanta. Across the US and Japan, the company has completed more than 600,000 autonomous trips covering 1.1 million miles. That operating history — modest against the 10,000-vehicle target — signals the scale-up challenge ahead: the 2031 fleet would multiply its current deployed footprint many times over.

Development work on the adapted ID. Buzz is already underway. The program timeline gives the industry two concrete checkpoints: public road tests in the US in early 2027, and delivery of the first production-ready autonomous vans in 2028.

What to watch next: whether the early-2027 US road tests stay on schedule, whether VW's volume adaptation of the ID. Buzz meets the 2028 delivery date, and whether May Mobility's 50% cost-reduction claim holds up once production vehicles reach fleet operators.