May Mobility Adds 30-Seater Self-Driving Bus to Fleet: CES 2025

Self-driving company May Mobility has used CES to announce another major new partnership.

The Michigan-based firm is teaming with Italy’s Tecnobus in a move that will see the latter’s electric minibuses equipped with May Mobility’s Multi-Policy Decision Making (MPDM) tech.

The autonomous minibus becomes the largest vehicle yet to be added to the May Mobility portfolio and will widen the options available to fleet operators and transit agencies in both the United States and international markets, having been homologated for use in Europe and Canada.

The on-paper specs certainly underscore its potential, with capacity for up to 30 passengers, accessibility for wheelchairs and a top speed of 45 mph. It also scores on sustainability, thanks to swappable batteries which reduce downtime and energy waste. 

May Mobility highlighted a number of areas where it envisages the autonomous Tecnobus EV potentially operating, including in urban areas, corporate campuses, airports and planned communities.

MPDM can be applied to different vehicles, and essentially leverages AI to interpret and learn from data in real time. This allows vehicles equipped with it to continuously adapt to unpredictable scenarios.

The minibus becomes May Mobility’s fifth new vehicle platform, joining the likes of the Toyota Sienna Auton-MaaS, which has been deployed at a number of different locations in America over the past few years, including most recently on a testing program at Peachtree Corners in Georgia. Other successful Sienna programs have been operated in the Bay Area, California, Detroit and Minnesota.

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Another Toyota, the e-Palette, was recently announced as the centerpiece of the company’s first program in Japan.

Edwin Olson, May Mobility’s CEO and founder, hailed the latest partnership, saying: “[It] shows that we’re serious about expanding transit access and reducing urban congestion. It’s a strong example of how doing the right thing for communities can also be great for growing our business.” 

Paolo Marini, CEO of Tecnobus, added: “This collaboration combines Tecnobus’ electric mobility expertise with May Mobility’s cutting-edge autonomy to deliver a transformative transit solution.”

The first road-ready minibuses are likely to be ready in the first half of 2026 and with Tecnobus’s parent company ICAPGROUP active in more than 27 countries, the hope is that it can pave the way for May Mobility to expand into more new markets.

The partnership comes at a busy time for the company, which recently confirmed a deal with Lyft to offer its AVs on the ride-hailing platform in Atlanta this year. It also launched its second fully driverless operation in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

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